Love Me Hate Me, Kiss Me Kill Me
by haipa-chan
Summary: Amai is trying to solve the mystery of her existence, Gaara is her way in. No matter how much she wants to kill him, she can't. She may not want to anymore. GaaraxOC
1. Chapter 1

OK, so i have decided to totally rewrite this entire story. After a few years of hiatus i am happy to report that i am back and writing agin. After loong consideration i decided to rewrite before posting anything new.

Hope you like it, tell me what you think of the new chapter!

* * *

"I could not stop death

so he kindly stopped for me

the carriage held but us and immortality"

* * *

The chunnin exams had finally arrived at it's second stage. Sarutobi had already warned me that numerous gennin and chunin would be entering the forest. I suppose he expected me to be on my best behavior for the duration of the exam. That meant no lunging out of the shadows and attacking the unsuspecting, unskilled prey who smelled oh so sweet.

It would be easier to avoid the temptation if Sarutobi hadn't asked me to watch over the exam. I could have easily kept my distance from the newbie ninja due to the fact that i could hear them from five miles away and knew this forest like the back of my hand. Unfortunately i was put into a situation where i had to be on the constant lookout for trouble. Not the usual trouble of genin killing one another, but for genin attacking chunin or any other unusual circumstances that might present themselves.

I did not like having this many people populating the forest i had come to think of as a type of home. There wasn't a sliver of peace to be had. The constant drone of thoughts created a dull ache in my mind that i had come to the forest to avoid.

I nimbly jumped from tree to tree, making no noise as my feet lightly touched the branch only to push off again. Reinstating my years of mental practice, i easily blocked out the pesky thoughts of the gennin. The only thoughts I didn't block out were the chunin in the forest, because I needed information on what was going on, and so they could easily call me if needed. The hokage had already informed them of my presence, that they were to alert me if trouble arose, and that they were not going to have the privacy of their thoughts while within the forest of death.

These humans were pathetic, if they were ninja they should be able to fend for themselves instead of relying on me. If the couldn't them they deserved to be dead, survival of the fittest.

A small breeze filtered its way through the dense trees and ran silky fingers through my short silver hair. It brought with it something that had me halting abruptly. I easily identified the smell of blood, being naturally drawn to it, but there was something odd mixed in.

_"Sand?" _i questioned inaudibly.

Even though i was reluctant to involve myself and bring myself any closer to the humans, i figured this was worth checking out. Just in case.

Wanting to get this done with as soon as possible, i ran at my full speed, reaching my destination in under a minute. The smell had been thick a left a clear trail so it was easy to follow it to the source. I came to a stop at the edge of a clearing. Within were two boys, i put their ages around 16 and 15, and a girl, who i pegged at 17. Hidden in the bushes, just under my spot in the tree, were two boys, a girl and a small dog.

Those were only the people still living. There were three dead rain-nin. The were very mangled, and i assumed it was thier blood painting the clearing a bright red seeing as none of the other people were hurt. This was the smell that had attracted me. The smell had been so thick simply because there was so much of it. There were a few particles of sand mixed with the blood but the bulk of the smell was wafting off of the boy with red hair.

During my intial observation none of the genin had noticed me. Pathetic really, but then i hadn't expected them to anyways. I took the opportunity to snoop around in the minds of the Leaf team below me.

_'Akamaru's freaked,'_ the boy with the red markings on his face remarked, _'That guy must be really strong – we have to get out of here!'_

_'T-Those guys are s-scary,' _the only girl stuttered in her mind. Pathetic, what kind of kunoichi stutters. Weren't they teaching the shinobie rules of conduct to these kids at the academy anymore?

_'My bugs, they're acting strange.' _So the boy with the glasses was an Aburame.

The genin on the ground were clearly scared shit less. The information i had gleaned from their minds told me that the red hair boy, the youngest, had ruthlessly slaughtered the rain-nin.

I turned my attention to the three in the clearing that the ones in hiding were thinking about. The girl was standing about 20ft away from the bodies, her blond hair was tied up in four ponytails, and she had a look of confidence on her face that faltered when the killer turned to face the bushes where the other three were hiding. He sensed them and was going to attack. Since it was not my place or job to interfere, i watched passively, yet with great interest. Before the sand boy could close his fist and release a wave of death upon the bushed the other male stepped forward and roughly grabbed the strap that held he gourd upon the green eyed boy's back.

"Listen, I'm the older brother and you will do what I say!" his voice was loud and rang through the clearing and to my ears. Although, even if it had been the faintest whisper i would have picked it up.

"I do not consider you a sibling, let alone a person I would take orders from. Let go before I kill you." his tone was cold, so cold it scared the boy clad in the jumpsuit into letting him go.

"Please Gaara, for your sister, no more killing," the blond said hesitantly, speaking for the first time as sand began to pour from the gourd 'Gaara' carried on his back.

So they were siblings. There were a lot of differences, but I could clearly see the subtle similarities that no one else would even notice. But it wasn't how they were related that interested me, it was the fact that the boy Gaara had the power to control sand. Although i had already determined him to be the source of the sand, i had yet to see it in action. It slithered from his gourd with a dry rushing sound and coiled to the ground like a lazy snake bringing with it an almost overpowering smell of blood.

_'So this is Shukaku's container,'_ I realized, putting two and two together. i knew that the sand had the one tail in their possession and that i had been placed inside a jinchuricki. What really gave it away though, besides the control of the sand, black rings around the eyes, and the obvious blood lust, was the massive amounts of chackra leaking off of him. i didn't know why i hadn't realized it sooner.

As his cold green eyes slid over in her direction she visibly flinched. He grunted, the sand slowly retreated back into his gourd and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

I didn't need to look to know that the three in the bushed had already hightailed it out of there. As soon as their muscles had allowed they were gone, running from the danger the animal instincts of their brain had picked up. Humans were no better than animals.

_'God, I thought he was going to kill me!' _the boy in black thought in relief. _'I wouldn't put it past him though…'_ his last thought was laced with resentment and hatred. It was feelings directed towards Gaara. I was almost relieved that he didn't share my ability to read minds and couldn't hear what his brother was thinking.

_'Thank god – I thought he was going to kill him,'_ Temari's thought were nothing but a dull annoyance in my mind. Such trivial thoughts were not worth my time when humans only thought about their own self preservation or that of someone they deemed necessary to their existence, what they usually called bonds.

They older boy and girl, now identified as Temari and Kunkuro, continued to think about trivial things and i tuned them out once again. i prepared to leave, the situation had tuned out to be nothing that required my attention. Suddenly i realized that i had only blocked the thoughts of the two older siblings and yet all was quiet. There weren't any thoughts coming from Gaara.

Unnerved, a rare state of feeling for me, i turned back towards the clearing where the sand-nin were starting to take thier leave. I studied The silent boy, saw every move of his body, every blink, every twitch he wasn't even aware of. I probed lightly with my mind towards his, trying to enter his mind, but still heard not the faintest murmur.

It was strangely irritating. I had longed for silence, to have my mind as my own and not have to endure the mundane thoughts of everyday humans. But now that there was one i couldn't read i felt unsettled.

Obviously i was to caught up in my contemplation or i would have never leaned so far forward. The slight movement caught Gaaras eye and he stopped, angling his head in my direction. My state of confusion only became more tangled as his eye stared at me with hate. i couldn't read the thought behind those eyes, the reason for such a look. i suposs it didn't matter though, he was going to try and attack me any second.

His sand whipped towards me at a surprisng speed and destroyed the branch i had just occupied. i landed lightly in front of Temari and Kunkuro, who had turned thie heads at the sound of swishing sand. They abruptly snapped their attention forwards and settled into battle stances.

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded a surprised Kankuro. Although he was trying to hide it behind a charade of cockiness, he was slightly afraid. i could smell it on his skin.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. I wasn't really interested in him; it was Gaara whom I was here for. As long as i was in the clearing and in plain view i might as well investigate the inigma before me. I walked around the two older siblings and regarded each of them icily. They were stronger than normal gennin but nowhere near my level. I would be more than enough of a match for them if they chose to foolishly attack. They both tensed up in anticipation, thinking that I was here for their scroll. I turned my back on them, no longer interested, and faced Gaara. I walked slowly towards him, testing his shielded mind with every step.

A gust of wind rushed by, blowing up some stray leaves so they danced in the air, Gaara directly in the path of it. The wind although a gentle breeze smacked me full in the face with his smell. It wasn't the smell of blood soaked sand like earlier, it was fresh and sweet. It was his blood.

I only had a second to register the smell and to fight what was going to happen when my mind gave over to instinct. And they were telling me to kill this boy. Fire trailed harsh punishing kisses from my throat to my brain as i tried to take a gasping breath of air laden with his scent.

The rational side of my brain, gagged in the corner, knew what was going on. He smelled to good and my instincts were winning in the fight for control. Instinct hadn't ruled my thought process since a very long time ago when i had been made anew, before i had control. I remembered what i had looked like back then, black eyes, elongated dirty nails caked with blood and grime, mouth twisted into a feral snarls, and fangs that dripped with salivation.

I could already taste his blood. My throat was suddenly as dry as the desert from which he came. I knew that only his chackra infused blood could quench the burn, would make me feel bliss for a few fleeting moments.

He looked at me, his facial expression was unemotional but i didn't need to read his mind to recognize the shock in his eyes. I could also recognized the reflection of myself in his glassy orbs. Somehow i had ended crouched on the ground, lips twisted into a snarl, eyes black as ink, and claws that gripped the earth. It was what he saw, a deranged monster in the woods. If i wasn't consumed with the strain of not ripping his throat out i would have laughed bitterly at the truth of the reflection.

His scent made my rational brain slow, hazy, and unwilling to cooperate. It made my instincts sharp and pronounced, heightened. It was a struggle between my mind and body. I crouched lower to the ground and dug my finger into the earth, fingers that wanted to clench harshly around his throat. The ground made way easily for my finger leaving ten deep furrows and my nails digging sharply into my palms.

I tried to focus on the face I had seen in his eyes a few seconds earlier. I was revolted. In my mind I was standing before a mirror. In that mirror was my reflection; a monster. A monster, me. The thing i had worked long to suppress, to overcome.

The wind blew his scent to me again and the few moments of control I had ended. I felt a stab of bitter emotion towards the wind, it was torturing me.

Unwillingly i began to form plans of attack. I would approach him and kill him, it seemed so inevitable. But first I would have to destroy evidence – the number one rule.

If I killed him first it would give his siblings about 15 seconds to react. It would be more difficult to catch and kill them if they were fighting or running away. Not impossible, not even hard. There would be plenty of time for screaming and attacking though. Anyone would be able to hear the ruckus. But i doubted anyone would be able to investigate before i was finished, if they even bothered.

But his blood would lose its warmth if I killed him first.

So his siblings first, then.

I would have to kill them quickly. They wouldn't be able to escape into the forest; I was faster and could stop them before they reached it. It would take about two seconds to snap each of their necks, giving Gaara only four seconds to react.

No.

I couldn't kill them. Normally I wouldn't try so hard to keep a human alive, especially from myself. But this one was different and my need to know why was a powerful contender against my need for his blood.

My breath became ragged. But I didn't have to breathe.

I quickly stopped the flow of air to my lungs. The relief was immediate but not complete – I still had the memory of the scent in my head, the taste on the back of my tongue. I wouldn't be able to resist for long, but maybe long enough to get out of there.

My instincts raged trying to pull the monster that was me forward into action.

I released the last of my air with a loud hiss. I hated this kid, his mind taunted me with its silence, and his blood tortured me with its smell.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, not breathing. My body didn't need oxygen but it went against my natural instincts which were struggling o lavish in his deviously sweet scent. Smell was the main sense I used. It was used in the hunt and warned me of danger. Not that there were many things as dangerous as me.

I was snapped out of my thought's and struggles when I heard sand being sent my way. I dodged with ease and jumped into a tree. His attack gave me a distraction, survival outweighing hunger. My rational mind got grasp and i without hesitation shot away from the clearing before the sand nin even knew what happened.

* * *

Three rock-nin lay dead at my feet, their tan skin already turning blue as death took its hold on their bodies.

It hadn't taken much effort to kill the three. They were weak and I felt no remorse at killing them. They were eventually going to die anyway, I was just speeding up the process. They had been the first people I had killed in a while.

I could last for quite some time without drinking blood by my body in a sort of stasis that required pumping chackra at a continuously slow pace throughout me body. But the encounter with Gaara had left me with a thirst tat wouldn't abate and i knew the only solution was to hunt. With no other prey available i killed the closest warm blooded humans i could find. When i was out in civilization i made a rule to only kill the worst of the scum, to rid the world of the worst humans, taking a sort of vindictive pleasure from it. But the rock nin would do.

I hadn't spared Gaara out of some sort of guilt or glimmer of humanity. I needed to know more before he died, to find out why i couldn't hear his thought and read his mind. To simplify the overcomplicated mystery that was presented before me.

No, he defiantly couldn't die before then.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Rewritten chapter TWO!  
**_

* * *

_"The gate of tomorrow is not the light of heavens but the darkness of the depths of the earth"_

* * *

I quickly made my way to the tower situated in the middle of the forest. A messenger hawk had found me earlier that morning with a letter from Sarutobi asking me to find him at the tower around midday. The tower was a shabby building that looked like it had been abandoned for decades. That wasn't true, though; the tower wasn't that old, the forest just had a way of making man-made things crumble quickly. I found it to my liking, and had even made one of the hidden rooms into my residence. I didn't need the room for sleep, but it was nice to have a place to escape during the daylight hours. As i entered the shade i almost sighed with relief. I hadn't cloaked myself today and my skin tingled from contact with light rays of sun that managed to break through the thick foliage.

Upon entering the tower i quickly locked onto the older male's scent and chackra signature. Using those as my guide i made my way towards the back of the tower. I eventually came to a stop before a what seemed like a dead end. Lazily i ran my hand along the all until my fingers came into contact with a small button invisible to the human eye. I released a small amount of chackra. The entire wall responded by receding inwards and moving to the left, revealing a hidden room beyond. The movement sent a large cloud of dust into the air.

I waved my hand in front of my face clearing the particles from my line of vision. I stepped into the room only to be greeted by the hokage sitting at a small desk. He was dressed in the customary kage robes of red and white, he was also smoking a small tabacco pipe. The wrinkles on his face seemed to have increased in number from the last time I had seen him, and he looked much more tired and worse for wear. He was getting older. But none the less he had a smile on his face as he beckoned me to sit in the chair opposite him.

We didn't say anything for awhile, seemingly trying to make the silence last as long as possible. It was a welcome relief for my growing headache. There were only about three teams and a few chunin in the tower so it was less strain to block their thoughts.

"Amai, it's good to see you well," he said, finally breaking the silence.

"Sarutobi. It is good to see you too," I said, a small smile appearing on my face. The hokage was actually one of the only humans I wasn't completely disgusted with. I respected him greatly.

"Well, what do you have to report?" he asked, folding his hand upon the desk.

Ah yes, the report. My mission of sorts. Even though i wasn't officially a Leaf shinobi, i still considered this favor to Sarutobi a mission to be done with the utmost precision.

"There is nothing much to report besides whatever your chunnin have told only time i felt my presence was needed was when the Sand-nin engaged in combat with some gennin from the Rain village. It turned out to be unnecessary." I said, shifting into report mode.

"Not too much trouble for you, I hope" the hokage said in a joking voice.

"No trouble at all. Except. . . " I trailed off.

I looked him in the eye until he realized my intentions and nodded briefly. I entered his mind, and careful not to delve deeper than necessary, showed him what had occurred in the clearing.

When i was finished i carefully withdrew from his mind and waited in silence while he processed the new information. Truthfully i was a bit ashamed of myself. Sarutobi had been generous to me in the past and i almost ruined his exams by going ballistic on some random gennin.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily before speaking. "I am glad that you did not kill the Gaara boy. As you already know he is very important to Suna and happens to be the Kazekages son."

i nodded, i had discovered this in Temari and Kunkuro's minds.

"That being said, i believe that something needs to be done about your condition. You have been in this forest for a long time, out of touch with civilization for a long time. Your killing of the rock-nin just reaffirms that."

He was going to banish me for his village. He had finally realized what kind of threat i was and wanted me gone. I should have expected this kind of thing. He was human after all.

"So i am putting you on one of my Teams for the duration of the exam."

I was a bit startled. I had expected him to say words of banishment and betrayal. I suppose i could have seen this coming if i looked into hs thoughts, but i always tired very hard to repress my ability around Sarutobi for the sake of his privacy. My shock wore off in a matter of seconds, replaced with confusion.

"Why?" It was very rude to question his generosity but i couldn't help myself.

"Hmm? well, I know you may be much older than me but you have seen so little of the good in the world. i want you to have a chance to socialize and interact." As he concluded his sentence i could tell, not even reading his thoughts, that there was another reason he wasn't telling me.

"what else" i pressed him.

Reluctantly he added, "After the second exam is over i am going to start negotiations with Suna to have them reinstate you as a shinobi in their forces. i hope to have you join their team. We both know that you originated from Suna, and if you can make your way back then i believe it is possible to dig up some information on your condition and past."

I hadn't been back to Sunakagure in years. I had lost all memories of who i previously was, i woke up one day thirsty as all hell, and willing to do anything to quench my thirst. i ended up killing a few men. I had to flee the village because they sent ANBU after me hoping to catch me for interrogation. I had later discovered a Sand headband on my person, leading my to assume i had been a ninja.

I couldn't remember if i had been born in this condition and if it was natural. I couldn't remember if i had had a normal human life before waking up in that alley in The dusty desert street. i didn't remember who i had been all those decades ago. All i had was who was now and what i knew about my current self.

"Well," he continued, not noticing my subtle discomfort, " You will be entering in the middle of the exams, but i know it will pose no challenge for you. I will inform you as soon as i get negotiations done with the Kazekage."

"Who team shall i be on for now?" This could be a good opportunity. By being reinstated in Suna i would have answers that simply didn't exist for me in Kohnoha.

"You will be on Kakashi's team. Team seven,"

"Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja?"

"Yes. His gennin are Haruno, Sakura and Uchiha, Sasuke. Sakura lacks strength, but she makes up for it with smarts. Sasuke is well balanced in both strength and smarts. He is also the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre."

An Uchiha? From what i recalled they were quite the arrogant bunch. Of course they would have to be massacred by a member of their own family. The irony was rich.

"And lastly, Uzumaki Naruto." I had heard that name before, he was the jinchuriki of the nine tails. " He lacks smarts but makes up for it with determination. He also has more chakra then everyone on his teams combined. He is also jailer to the Demon fox from 13 years ago." So many jinchuriki in one week.

"Does he know how to use the Kyuubi's chakra?" I asked, my interest piqued.

"No. But I'm sure you will find him interesting none the less. He has had a life quite like yours. He has no family and has been ostracized by the villagers against my wishes. "

"I doubt he had a childhood quite like mine, i don't even remember my childhood. For all you know it could have been a walk in the park."

"We'll see," he said, sliding me a folder with my new 'team's' information inside it, along with information on Kakashi - though I doubted I would need it.

"Also, along with your new team I'm assigning you to watch over Sasuke. We have received information from the chunin posted in the forest that he has been bitten by Orochimaru."

I inwardly cringed at the name. I understood who he was, and the man just gave off a very menacing, creepy aura.

"Your old student, if I remember correctly, Sarutobi." I stated slowly, drawing out my words.

"Yes, and one of the sennin to, so you have to be cautious. You will meet your team in the forest tomorrow, i trust you will be able to locate them?. "

"Yes, Hokage-sama" I said bowing and exited the room, sealing the door behind me.

I smiled slightly when I exited the room, something I would never do around anyone else, i was excited for this new development. Sarutobi was right, i had been in this forest for too long. A little bit of action, no matter how un-challenging, would be welcome. I really was happy to be entering the chunin exams, but the thought of having to work on a team with humans, gennin none the less, filled me with distaste. It would be easier to work by myself.

I walked down the hall, frowning slightly at the dust being sent up into the air by my every footfall. It really was bad for my senses; I used my sense of smell the most and the dust made everything smell the same - dusty. It made me feel a little uneasy that I couldn't smell anything through dust, and I was relieved when I finally exited the hallways and entered the open space at the front of the tower. When I entered I easily noticed three familiar scents and recognized them as the three that had been hiding in the bushes near the sand siblings.

_"So they got a scroll already? And here I was thinking they were weak." _my thoughts were sarcastic and rude,as far as i was concerned those three were weak and had just gotten lucky. But I had to admit that if they got a scroll so early into this exam then they must have some skills to supplicate their luck.

I decided to go find out some information about them. All I had to do was look into their eyes then all their pathetic abilities and secrets would be at my fingertips. If i was to participate in this exam i might as well gain some kind of advantage over my opponents. I spotted them by one of the benches in middle of a large room. They were standing in a sort of semi-circle, talking.

"There was something weird about those sand shinobi. The red haired one killed three rain-nin without batting an eye," the one I believed to be called Kiba stated.

"Do you fear death?" my words were barely above a whisper and my warm breath glanced across his ear. It was amusing to see his startled expression at my sudden appearance.

They turned around quickly; they hadn't heard me come up behind them. I had walked so quietly the room could have been dead silent and they still wouldn't have heard me.

_"Who is she?"_ was the unanimous thought from the three.

Their thoughts were echoed when the boy Kiba asked "Who are you?"

"I am a shinobi, and that is all you need to know. I'll ask you again. Do you fear death?" I asked my voice as cold as ice and probably just as sharp and piercing.

"What kind of person would I be if I didn't?" he asked incredulously, his face clearly showing surprise and a little anger.

I hated humans that called themselves shinobi and didn't know one thing about being a shinobi. Rule 25; 'A shinobi must never show his or her emotions, no matter what the circumstance.' A shinobi must also never be in fear of death because that fear will hold him or her back during a mission. And they can not fully serve their kage if they lived in fear of death.

"One that is worthy of being called a shinobi," my words hit him like sharp icicle digging into his slow thought process.

He was angry; it was written all over his face, plus I could also sense it as clearly as if he had said it out loud.

_"Is she saying that I'm not worthy of being a shinobi?_" I smirked mentally even though my face remained placid and unemotional. That was exactly what I was saying.

"Who are you to say I don't deserve to be a ninja?" he snarled, his voice laced with, what seemed to me, an imaginary threat, as if he could even touch me.

_"Touchy isn't he?"_ oh how I was laughing at him in my head. I leaned forward looking him directly in the eye to gain my opportunity, "No one of importance." I had gathered all the information i needed.

Blood rushed to his face when I was that close turning his cheeks a most delicious color. Gaining all the information i needed, I spun on my heel and left the room swiftly.

In the other room I could still hear their thoughts.

_"S-she was even scarier t-t hen the sand guys!"_ So the Hyuga was still stuttering - how pathetic. There was scarier things than me in this world.

_"That's the first time I've seen my bugs act like that. Who is she?"_ the Aburame thought. Indeed his bugs had been acting awkward, unbalance by my strange chackra patterns.

But all Kiba's thinking was towards me, angry that I had thought him not worthy of the rank shinobi.

I listened to them for a moment longer before going off into the dark halls of the tower once more, careful to step so lightly that no dust was kicked up under my feet. I smelt it before I heard it or saw it. The smell of blood was heavy and familiar. Many different people's blood, too. I recognized it immediately. I looked out of the corner of my eye slowly to see an disembodied eye floating above my head, looking straight at me. I could sense the chakra in it and immediately recognized that too. It was Gaara's. I stood completely still and did a quick mental scan of the building using only my hearing and smell.

Three rooms to my left was Kiba's team, still muttering about things I didn't take the time to listen to. It took me about two seconds to locate Gaara and his siblings. They were five rooms north-northeast of me.

I opened my eyes, turned and made my way out of the room and out of view from Gaara's floating eye. When I was out of its line of vision I ran at my full speed to the other side of the tower, so even if he did see me it would just look like I just disappeared.

Night had fallen long ago and I was sitting calmly on the roof of the tower. I had suspected that no one would come up here to bother me. But I was tense and did not relax one muscle. I was concentrating on any trace or small sign of Gaara or his chakra. It really bothered me that I had to run away from a weak child. I had been cautious of his presence since the incident the other day. I was sure that i would be able to control myself since i wouldn't be surprised, but it was better to not take chance unless necessary.

The night passed even more slowly than usual and I did not relax the entire time. When morning came I hadn't moved a muscle and was sore and stiff.

I cursed my stupidity.

It was the third day of the exams; that meant that there would still be plenty of teams left in the forest. Even with my enhanced abilities it wouldn't be easy to track down three children in a forest this size.

I sighed. Just another burden of having a team - I had to find them first.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three rewritten, Enjoy!  
**

* * *

_"Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us everything except that which cannot be torn, so we can see ourselves for what we truly are."_

* * *

It was annoying, having to find my 'team'. even though it was just a temporary step towards my goal, i did not like the idea of dragging a genin team with me across the a forest of death. I growled under my breath as I scanned the forest with all of my senses for anything or anyone who matched the description of my new team. But I was mostly trying to sense any trace of demonic chakra. It made sense that if the nine tails holder even released it once it would still cling to him, making it very easy to find him.

I stopped, faintly sensing demonic chakra coming from straight ahead. It was close.

I quickly ran off in that direction. I didn't want to waste any more of my time than I already had. I made sure I had suppressed my chakra so that they wouldn't be able to sense me and stopped on a tree branch about 33 feet above the one my three new 'team members' were sitting on. I pressed against the tree, silently merging with the shadows cast by the leaf expanse overhead.

The raven-haired boy, obviously the Uchiha, looked exactly the same as he had in his picture - cocky, arrogant, and good looking. Objectivly he had very good genes and many human females probably fawned over him. That would most likely contribute to his aura of arrogance. A quick peak into his head showed me that he had indeed been fawned over by most of the population. I allowed myself a small stab of sympathy for the massacre of his entire family. It had made him strong in many ways. He was also in a great deal of pain, due to the run in with Orochimaru, but attempting not to show it.

I looked next toward the pink haired girl seated between the two boys._ "Oh, I hope Sasuke doesn't think I'm scared. He's so"'_ I cut off her thoughts. It was so disgusting. She had only become a shinobi in a useless attempt to impress the Uchiha. She deserved to be a shinobi less than that dog boy.

_"I want ramen. If I was at Irichraku's I would have beef ramen and-'_" I cut off Naruto's thoughts as well; they were not worth my time. This one was obviously an idiot and a glutton. He was interesting to say the least. Nothing to impress me yet though. Sarutobi would have to live with that disappointment.

_"Why am I stuck with idiots?"_ were the Uchiha's thoughts. Well at least there was one competent child on this team.

They were discussing the best way to obtain a scroll when I decieded to drop down in front of them. They jumped up, kunai at the ready, thinking I was here for their scroll. I snorted inwardly, if i wanted their scroll i would take it without dropping down for a monolog. I observed each of them coldly. The girl's stance was weak and unsure, suggesting that she was the best target for an attack. The blonde's stance was strong but sloppy and he would be easy to take down. I turned my gaze to the Uchiha, his stance was strong and basically perfect except that he was too tense. It was better to be relaxed during battle; it made your movements strong and fluid.

The Kyubbi holder sent a kunai at my head. To me it looked as if it was moving in slow motion. I didn't even bother to avoid it, but instead caught it between my index and middle finger right before it drove its razor sharp point into my forehead.

_"I wonder if I would die if i let that hit?"_ I mused for moment. i had discovered early on that i had miraculous healing abilities. More advanced than anything i had seen from Jinchuriki or human experiment. I threw the kunai back so fast they didn't know what was coming and pinned Naruto to a tree.

"You know, you shouldn't attack your new teammates. It's not good for building trust,'" I said, keeping my face unemotional.

Their faces showed confusion and fear.

"Do you think we were born yesterday? We know you're just trying to get our scroll!" Naruto shouted, pointing his finger at me accusingly. He tried to free himself from he tree, but I had thrown the kunai so that it was lodged deeply and his efforts were in vain.

"I suggest that you stop pointing that finger at me if you want to keep it. And no, I'm not lying, the hokage sent me himself. Here, he even sent you a scroll explaining everything," I said, reaching into my weapons pouch and enjoying the expressions on their faces when they thought I was reaching for a weapon. But they relaxed a little when they saw I really was pulling out a scroll. I looked at it for a second and then threw it at them. The Uchiha caught it and opened it suspiciously, his eyes flew across the paper and his brows furrowed as he considered what the paper said. When he finished he looked up to find me leaning against a tree, bored.

"This could be fake," he said, his voice clearly showing distrust.

"Fine, I'll prove it." i said briskly. I figured they would need convincing and had asked Sarutobi if i could borrow one of his ninja. I closed my eyes and scanned the area for a chunnin. I quickly found one and called out to him with my mind. _"I'm having trouble with some stupid gennin, come help me out. Now."_ I waited for about a second until a Chunin landed in a kneeling position in front of me.

"What is it?" he asked, irritation clear in his voice.

"The hokage assigned me to their team and I need help convincing them."

"You know I'm not allowed to interfere." he was now standing up at my side, regarding the three in front of him.

"I'm sure the hokage will understand seeing as he already gave me the ok."

"Fine." he looked at the genin before us "This is Zetsumei Amai. she is now on you team as appointed by the Hokage. You will not attack her, although I'm sure she could take you even if you did." he explained in a voice that said he had better things to do.

The three genin nodded, so he turned to me. "Can I go?" I nodded and he disappeared in a poof of wispy smoke.

I turned my back on my new 'team', sat down against a tree, and closed my eyes, concentrating on drowning out the thoughts of all that were in the forest. I heard the rustle of grass and three pairs of footsteps coming over to me. Cracking open an eyelid I saw Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke standing around me.

"Why did the Hokage assign you to our team? I be he thinks we can't handle ourselves! thats it huh?!" shoted an extremely loud Naruto.

"As explained in the scroll, i am only on your team temporarily. Quite possibly only for this portion of the exam if we get lucky and certain people decide to be reasonable." I told him with a droll expression. Honestly couldn't he read? A real shinobi would accept his Hokage's orders with not questions asked.

Naruto stalked of muttering under his breath about not being respected and other gibberish.

"This is the Forest of Death. We don't have time to sit around and relax." Sasuke's voice was harsh and low.

"So let's go do something, then. It is the second day and I'm surprised that you don't have a scroll yet; any good team would." I was now examining my fingernails as if they were worth more of my time than my teammates were.

It was mildly amusing to see them upset over a little thing.

I stood up. "Well, let's go. We have three days, and that is not a lot of time."

"Who made you team leader?" asked Naruto incredulously.

"Who else is going to lead this team - you?" I waited for a second and when no answer came I said, "Let's move."

Night came and we decided to make camp. under the roots of a large tree. I took the first watch. When the others laid out their sleeping bags and fell asleep with Sakura taking he first watch. I was awake for the slightest sound or smell of an enemy nearby, i simply lay in my sleeping bag in the illusion fo sleep. i wouldn't want to freak out the kids by staying awake all night staring at them.

Morning came faster than I had expected, and soon my teammates were wide awake and fixing breakfast cold because I had to advised them not to make a fire.

"You're not going to eat?" asked Sakura when I made no move towards the food

"I'm not hungry. Hurry and eat, we leave in 5 minutes." I said it plainly as if it were no big deal.

Two more days went by with nothing really occurring. We were attacked by a few teams, but with little help from me they were able to fend them off and keep our scroll.

On the end of the fourth day we camped by a river and I went out into the forest while Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura set up camp. I was just sitting in a tree, enjoying the relative silence, when I smelled the smoke of a camp fire.

"Bakas" I growled under my breath as I ran back to the camp. I stopped when I saw a young boy standing over my team talking to them. He was about nineteen, with silver hair tied up into a ponytail and he wore glasses on the bridge of his nose. They just stood there doing nothing and looking confused at why he was here. Then I saw our scroll sitting on the ground partly opened.

I appeared behind them and hissed in a low voice. "Bakas! You tried to open the scroll?" these words were not shouted, but held much more force than a shout would have.

"A-amai-chan," Naruto stuttered, turning around. "Um ... um ... ah, have you met Kabuto?"

"No, I don't believe I have." I turned my gaze to his and I tried to look into his mind to distinguish if he should be considered a threat. However, I found that his mind was protected by a strong set of mental barriers. It wasn't as if i absolutely couldn't read his mind, as with Gaara, this man just happened to protect his very carefully. If i snuck past his barriers he surely would notice.

I looked at his face for answers that I couldn't find in his mind. He was smirking as if he knew that I couldn't get into his mind. I hissed lowly almost tempted to painfully crush all his barriers and divulge his secrets.

"You show your emotions too plainly, Kabuto-san." I added the "-san" part with mock respect. As if I could ever respect a human such as this. But I was curious to the fact that he could protect his mind, as if he knew I would be here.

"It's hard to hide my emotions in the presence of such a beautiful girl," he said, smirking wider still

I growled lowly and dislodged a kunai hidden in my sleeve into my hand. I threw it at him so fast he did not notice I had even moved until he felt the warm trickle of blood down his face. His face was shocked, along with Naruto's and Sakura's. Sasuke's face remained the same as ever, although it was obvious in his eyes that he was as shocked as the others, and a little angry.

Kabuto touched the deep cut on his face tenderly and looked at me in shock. But that shock wasn't evident in his eyes. No, in his eyes there was no shock, only curiosity. This boy was playing dumb and he believed that he could fool me. This boy was also strong, and he hid his chakra very well - any normal ninja, not even the Hokage, would have noticed it. But I was . . .different from them.

"Why are here?" I asked harshly, for I was weary of him and wanted him out of my sight. He made me slightly uneasy.

"Why? I just came to warn your teammates of the danger of lighting a fire and opening of the scrolls," he said as if it were the most innocent thing in the world.

"Well I'm sure you warned them before I arrived. You can leave now"

"I also would like to help you. I noticed that you have only one scroll and I know how you can get another."

"Oh," I said, shifting my weight, not really interested. I had planned to go that night while my team was asleep, steal a scroll from another team, and present it to them in the morning of the fifth day.

"Yes. Its the next-to-last day, all of the teams that already have a scroll will be heading toward the tower. So all you have to do is defeat one of the teams and steal their scroll. Which, by the way, is easier said than done." He said loudly, now looking more at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura than me.

"And what of you? You could easily be leading us into a trap, since I do not see your team anywhere." He turned his gaze back to me.

"My teammates are already moving towards the tower. I told them I would meet them there. I wanted to make sure these guys were alright. I also did not know that you were on this team."

"I was just added to this team about two days ago." I said although it was really none of his business.

"I see. Well, if you would like to take my offer, I would gladly lead you to the tower and help you obtain a scroll." Sunlight glinted of his glasses making his offer seem even more menacing.

"No thanks, I'm sure we can manage." I did not like this boy, nor did I trust him. I was also wary around him since he had his mind protected so well by those mental barriers. And I could easily lead my team to the tower. I knew this forest like the back of my hand.

"Amai! It's the fourth day and we don't have a scroll yet! We should take Kabuto-kun's offer." shouted a startled Naruto

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Naruto," Sakura said timidly, as if it scared her to be talking to me. Which it probably did.

"Hn," was the Uchiha's only reply as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I sighed angrily "Fine. Pack up camp, we move in five"

They quickly doused their fire and packed up all their things they had so carelessly scattered along the ground. Once they were packed we left the campsite and walked into the dark forest. This came as a relief to me, for I could easily stand the light for short periods, but if I stayed in it for too long and my skin started to soak it up then I would be covered with a painful rash, quite like a sunburn except worse. My advanced healing abilities did nothing to sooth the irritaion. Plus, i was made for the dark and it was easier for me to see. We jumped from tree to tree, moving deeper into the forest with Kabuto leading the way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 rewritten!  
**

* * *

_"Its not true life is one damn thing after another. It the same damn thing over and over."_

* * *

I was a bit irritated that they hadn't noticed anything yet. Well, I'm sure Kabuto noticed it a while ago. We had been caught in a genjutsu about an hour ago and had been walking in circles for a while now. There were subtle differences about the forest, mostly due to the high level of detail involved in making the jutsu. There was just too much and the genin casting the illusion didn't have the skill o trick my eyes.

"This isn't right. . . Just as I feared, we've been caught in a genjutsu," said Kabuto, faking ignorance.

No shit Sherlock.

"Yeah, I just noticed it too," I said, faking ignorance. I wanted to see how strong this guy really was. "Grass nin, by the looks of it."

As if one cue, grass nin crawled out of the ground and trees. Illusions, all of them. They wanted our scroll.

Naruto not being the brightest charged right in without knowing they were just illusions.

It turns out that they didn't really need my help. Naruto had created some shadow clones to look like us and still had energy to spare. The rain nin lay stunned at our feet and Naruto looked like he was going to pass out. He did make a large number of clones.

While they were all excited about their victory over the enemy nin, except Sasuke, I went over to the one that looked like the leader, took the scroll, and examined it.

A heaven scroll to go nicely with our earth.

"I got the scroll. Let's move on to the tower, times almost up," I stated my tone lifting a few degrees. I didn't see what they had to celebrate or be exited about; they had defeated the enemy, and that was to be expected. But they had done a good job as a team.

"Hn."

"Hai."

and "Yeah!" were the replies from Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

We made our way to the tower that was about half a mile from where the grass nin had attacked us. Around the building there were about a dozen or more doors. We went to the one that matched the number of the gate that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had come into the forest through. When we reached our door, the three leaf genin turned to say good bye to Kabuto.

My suspicions about him had been confirmed during the scuffle with the grass nin. At one point he had flashed some very malicious chakra laced with killing intent. This man was no ordinary genin.

"Kabuto, we almost missed the deadline, you're late!" Said a man, who I supposed was Kabuto's team member, walking up from the opposite direction.

"Heh, sorry about that. We ran into some trouble," Kabuto said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly with a dumb half smile plastered to his lying face before turning to face my team.. "I'll see you guys inside"

"Okay. Thanks, Kabuto-kun, for all your help!" said Sakura, waving at his retreating back.

When they were out of sight I turned my attention to the door. It was a simple wooden double door with one handle. There were no booby traps that were visible to my eyes. I reached out, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open very quietly. When we walked in, we saw that it was a simple room with writing on the furthest wall. We walked to the center of the room so we were looking directly up at the large painting of words.

While they were reading the painting I was looking around the room and inspecting the area. If we were ambushed here as part of the test I wanted to be familiar with my surroundings.

"I think we have to open the scrolls," said Sakura, interrupting my inspection.

I opened my weapons pouch and tossed the two scrolls to where they were standing. I watched a little ways back as Naruto and Sakura opened the scrolls together. The scrolls started to smoke and they tossed them away. When they did that, the scrolls exploded in white smoke and there stood Iruka.

I recognized him from the little time i had spent in the leaf village. He had been about ten or so.

"Iruka-sensei?!" said Sakura and Naruto at the same time.

"Hey guys. I'm glad you made it through okay." he said with a big smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" asked Naruto, confused.

"Well, I came here to congratulate you and to explain these words behind us." Iruka said, turning to look at the words.

"Yeah, I couldn't figure that out. It looks like a word is missing." said Sakura.

"Well, its like a riddle. It means that if you're strong in mind, or smart, and weak in body you have to train your body to be in balance with your mind. Like you Sakura. And if you're strong in body, like Naruto, and weak in mind, then you have to train your mind as well as your body so both are in balance." Naruto pouted at the last part.

"But what about the missing word?" asked Sakura.

"You-" my voice cut him off.

"You have to fill in that yourself," I said, emerging from the shadows where I was observing the scene.

"Amai-san?" questioned Iruka, looking at me as though he were trying to remember a forgotten memory. I had talked to him once or twice when he was a child. The first time being after his parents were killed in the Kyubbi attack.

"Hello Iruka," I said, keeping my voice and face emotionless.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, still with the dazed look on his face.

"Sarutobi placed me on their team and allowed me to enter the chunnin exams," I said, avoiding the actual question which had been 'what are you doing in the forest of death?'. I had disappeared thirteen years ago from the leaf village and no one beside the Hokage and the chunnin who ran the exam knew I was here. I preferred to keep my whereabouts quiet.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I visibly flinched. I hated being touched. Especially by a human, no matter who it was. "Oh, sorry, I forgot," he said, removing his hand.

"I'd advise you not to do it again, but I will forgive you this time. It's been thirteen years: humans are very forgetful." As soon as the words left my lips I realized my mistake. I had become too comfortable around Iruka and I forgot who else was present in the room.

Shit.

I turned to look at Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke.

They had not noticed anything amiss with my words, taking them at face value. Even Iruka did not question my odd word choice, already knowing my secret. This was for the best i thought in relief. The less people who knew about my condition the better. Iruka only knew because he had been there when i decided to leave. He had also cleverly eavesdropped on a conversation i was having with the Hokage. How he managed that i had never found out and had been very angry with myself at the time.

Iruka led us to a large room where all the other teams were assembled. At the front of the room stood the hokage, with him stood the teams' senseis and the exam proctor. Behind them was a large statue of a hand sign.

I looked at the teams assembled and noticed immediately that the sand nin were among them; I stiffened when I noticed this. He smelled delicious. It looked like keeping my distance wouldn't be an option anymore. There were also seven other teams standing in lines. As soon as we got into line I felt Garra's gaze fall on me and I heard his sand shift in the gourd he carried on his back. He wanted to attack me. I could feel blood lust radiating off of him. And I could smell him. Even though I had just fed, the smell made my mouth go dry and created a hunger deep in my stomach. It took all I had not to attack him as well. Thankfully I was distracted by the conversation going on behind me.

"If you don't tell, I will!" It was Sakura talking to Sasuke about Orocimaru's mark.

"Don't. You. Dare." said Sasuke, turning to face Sakura.

Sarutobi was saying if anybody wanted to quit then they could now. Kabuto quit, saying he was deaf in one ear, which added to my suspicions. He had seemed perfectly fine to me. And even if it was the case being deaf in one ear was no good excuse to quit. If that happened on the battle field you wouldn't get the option to quit.

"But Sasuke, I'm worried about you!" she was sobbing now. "You're always so cold to me, but I have to do this." She started to raise her hand.

"I'm fine!" said Sasuke, grabbing her hand before she raised it.

Before she could speak again Sarutobi said that the preliminaries were going to begin and the non-participants would have to wait on the ledge while the fight progressed. When we walked onto the ledge a man appeared next to us. I recognized him as Hatake Kakashi. I also knew him from when I lived in the village, but he had only been about ten. He still wore his mask and wore is hair in that horrendous style.

He glanced at me through his one eye.

"Amai, i assume." he said boredom.

"Hello Kakashi-san," I replied rather blandly.

"What are you doing here. Last I heard you had left the village and no one knew where you went."

"Technically that's not true. The fourth knew where I was, and so did the third and a select few."

"How did you come to be on my team?"

"Oh, these are yours? Really, Kakashi-san, I would have expected more from the infamous copy ninja."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Sarutobi put me on their team for... reasons and allowed me to participate in the exams."

"Hm," was his only answer as he pulled out Come Come Paradise.

"Trash" i stated, referring to his book.

He just ignored me and kept reading. I noticed though that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were listening to our conversion with obvious interest.

Then Sarutobi started talking. "The matches will be paired randomly. When you are selected, you and your opponent's name will appear on that screen," he said, motioning to a screen behind him. "Now, let's begin."

The screen stared flashing and Sasuke's name and one of Kabuto's team member's names appeared. I glanced at Sasuke. This would be hard for him, considering that he was under tremendous pain. He walked down to the floor.

"Good luck, Sasuke!" Sakura said.

"Don't lose," were Naruto's words.

As he walked past me I grabbed his shoulder with my hand, and leaned in and whispered so softly that he had to strain to hear.

"Don't think about the pain." When his match started, I looked at Kakashi and said, "He has the mark. You should do what Sarutobi said and seal it as soon as possible." He just nodded.

On the opposite ledge I saw Garra watching the match intently. Next to him stood his siblings and what looked like their sensei. Sasuke's match was over rather quickly, with him struggling, then using some move at which Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"That's fuzzy brows' move!" and "Isn't that Lee's move"

When the match was over Sasuke collapsed on the floor, panting heavily, and Kakashi appeared behind him using his knee to support his weight. I knew he was taking him to seal the curse mark. I left the room in a way as to not draw attention to myself, i might as well see this.

When I entered the hallway I became aware of another presence following me. Gaara. My mouth went dry. I couldn't risk him following my into a deserted hallway. I would definitely kill him if given that kind of opportunity. I glanced back, i didn't see him, but i could sense him and smell him clearly. I clenched my fists, remembering how good he smelled, how good he would taste.

So much for looking in on the sealing of Sasuke's curse seal.

"Tsk" meddlesome brat, he was just begging to be killed. _"Maybe i should just kill him."_

Unfortunately i needed him alive. His existence was still a puzzling mystery that i was determined to solve. And if i was going to be transferred over to Suna it wouldn't be good to kill on of their shinobi before even getting there. If i was unfortunate enough to be transferred before the end of the exams it would most likley be to his team. As soon as I turned the corner I disappeared, only to reappear next to Naruto.

"Where did you go?!" he asked, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

I sighed in annoyance. "My whereabouts are none of you business." I looked down to my hand and saw the little crest shaped cuts heal. Well, that little walk had been short lived. This boy Gaara was getting to be a pain.

The boy in the jumpsuit pushed past Naruto.

"My name is Rock Lee, will you be my girlfriend? I will protect you with my life!" he asked rather dramatically.

"No," I deadpanned. Then without looking at him I read Naruto's mind to figure out what match we were on, I didn't feel like talking to him. His match hadn't happened yet, and now we were on the Huuyga's match.

Naruto's and Sakura's were nothing special. Naruto had won and Sakura's match was more of a cat fight that ended in a draw. We were waiting for the Board to select the next match. The letters flashed and the names were Garra vs. Rock Lee. This should be interesting. Garra appeared in the arena in a flurry of sand and Rock Lee jumped off of the railing.

A few minutes after the match started I heard Temari and Kankuro speaking.

"Where are you going?" she asked as Kunkuro started walking towards the stairway off the ledge.

"To do a little reconnaissance," he answered, waving over his shoulder.

He came over and stood by Naruto, who coincidentally was standing by me. He thankfully didn't take any notice of me. Unlike his brother he wasn't very observant. I did however see his sister looking very pointedly at me.

"What do you want!?" Naruto asked rudely.

"Hey, chill, I just came to talk," Kankuro said, holding his hands in defense.

"Well I don't like you!" Naruto responded, turning away

"Why you lit-" he was cut off when there was yelling between Lee and his sensei. Lee was standing on top of the statue.

"Lee, take them off!" yelled the jonin wearing green spandex.

"But Gai-sensei, you said to only do that if someone important was in danger," he protested hesitantly.

"It's okay, you can do it now!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" then Lee sat down and took off his orange leg warmers to reveal weights.

"Huh! He thinks by removing a few pounds he can defeat Garra?" said Kunkuro, but he was shut up when Lee dropped the weights and they crashed onto the floor, leaving a huge crater.

Garra was losing badly and Lee had opened two of the seven Gates. It was a good match, even I had to admit that. But I knew it was obvious Garra was going to win; opening the gates proved to be too much of a strain on Lee's body and in what would have been the finishing move he winced. That sealed his fate.

Gaara had replaced himself with a quickly made clone, and when he was going to finish off Lee, Gai stepped in and blocked the attack.

"Why?" Gaara asked.

"Because he is important to me," was Gai's answer.

It took a few minutes for the chunin to clear the arena as much as they could, but the eventually they announced the next match. The match was nothing spectacular. In fact, it was rather pathetic. But when it was over, that meant the only match left was mine. The board flashed and my name and that of my opponent appeared. I jumped down. I wanted to finish this quickly. When my opponent came down I observed him, taking in his every move. He was Kabuto's other teammate, he was of medium build, goggles covered his eyes and a mask covered the lower half of his face.

My opponent smirked. _"A weak little girl. This should be easy."_ he thought. Then he charged at me.

Big mistake. I had learned to never underestimate an opponent.

_"Never underestimate your opponent Amai. Even a child as young as you could massacre_."

_"I know"_

Disembodied voices fluttered through my mind, reminding me of old teachings. By whom i didn't know.

I had learned to never make the first move in a battle, to assess the enemies strength before moving. He ran at me, ready to punch me. He was quite slow so I waited until the last second and side-stepped his blow. Then I turned and delivered a roundhouse kick to his back. Not my hardest kick, though. I had specific instructions not to reveal my true strength. i could have broken his spine if i wanted to.

He stood unsteadily and did a bunch of hand signs, activating the same justsu his team mate had in the first match. _"Where is the originality? honestly"_ Blue chakra gathered at his finger tips. He charged at me again, his arm held back, ready to strike me with his chakra-infused hand.

When he was close enough I crouched down and drove my clawed hand into his chest, just above his heart. I was careful not to puncture his heart, only he tips of my finger were embedded in his flesh. But it still hurt like a bitch. His hand fell limply,chakra fading from the tips of his fingers as he slumped and almost passed out from the pain. I pulled my hand out of his chest and straightened from my crouching position. I then punched him hard in the gut, sending him crashing into the wall. I'm sure I felt more than one rib crack under the force of my fist. He hit the wall with such force, his impact created a huge crater behind him. The sound of breaking bones was quite refreshing.

I walked over to the fallen man very, very slowly. The only sound in the auditorium was my footfalls. He was slumped over, a small trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He was also bleeding profusely from the wound on his chest, and it was creating a small puddle around him.

I came to his seemingly lifeless body, pulled him up, and looked into his eyes. They were glazed, but he was not unconscious. I pulled out a kunai and twirled it around my finger. It was a ninjas duty to always finish the job. Then I grabbed its handle and plunged it downward toward the man's heart.

_"Stop!"_

I hissed under my breath and redirected my kunai, driving it into the man's shoulder instead. He let out an earsplitting scream, finally coming out of his daze and passing out from the pain. I let go of his shoulder, letting his body crumple to the ground. The proctor appeared next to me and examined the man's wounds, frowning. The match had ended in less than 3 minutes.

"If you want to save his life, then I suggest you get a medical nin out here, or he will die, I assure you." my voice was icy.

The proctor nodded and called out the medical nin, who loaded him on the stretcher and quickly looked over him before rushing off. Before they went I noticed one of the nin looked at me, astonished. I left the scene quickly and headed up to the balcony where my team was waiting, but not before casting a heated glare in the direction of Sarutobi, who had yelled out in my mind to stop. I walked calmly, as if nothing had ever happened. Everyone I passed either got out of my way quickly or looked at me with the same astonishment the medical nin had.

"That was a little much. You didn't have to try to kill him, you know." said Kakashi when I go to his side.

"The weak die, and the strong survive. You know this." was my response. I lowered my eyes from the spot on the wall that they had rested upon, and met the green eyes of Gaara.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 rewritten!  
**

* * *

_"Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard be evil"_

* * *

To say that the exam ended without incident would be an understatement.. Sasuke was taken to the hospital ward and Anbu were put on guard after the sealing. My suspicions were confirmed about Kabuto when he attempted to kill Sasuke. He had killed the three ANBU. He was however, chased away by Kakashi before he could do any real damage. The little sneak had gotten away with to much. I suspected that he worked for Orochimaru but the fact that he tried to kill Sasuke put that into question.

After the exam, Sasuke was moved to the hospital in Konoha and the time to leave the forest approached.

The forest of death was a large ecosystem separate from Konoha. It was inside the village gates but fences closed it off and no one ever entered there besides for the exam. The animals and life forms that lived there were undisturbed by the inhabitants of Konoha and grew to monstrous sizes.. Stepping into the forest was strange for the genin that had come and participated in the second exam. Stepping out of the forest, for me, was unbearable.

I hesitated at the edge, near the chain-link fences. I popped open a umbrella i kept around for when i had to venture into the sun for to long. It would be far to noticeable if i used my shadow skills to cloak myself. I gingerly stepped out of the shadowy overhang of leaves and made my way towards the gate.

Part of me was filled with dread at being back in the city I had left so many years ago, and part of me was filled with an ebbing familiarity. I scowled at the familiarity; it shouldn't have become familiar in the first place. All there was for me in this city was hate and confinement.

"Its good to be home!" yelled Naruto, speeding off to go to his favorite ramen store, I couldn't help but give way to half a smirk. Sasuke and Sakura also walked off their own separate ways, but not before Sakura asked him to walk her home. He denied her with a cold shoulder. Sakura waved at me over her shoulder.

"Amai-san, the Hokage wanted to see you as soon as we arrived." Kakashi said, walking towards the Hokages office. I supposed he had to lead me. We arrived at the largest building soon enough and i was lead to the most official looking door which i assumed to be Sarutobi's office.

I knocked loudly on the office door in front of me. From within there came a call to enter. I pushed open the doors and there sat the Hokage, looking at me and smoking a pipe from behind his large mahogany desk.

"Sit." I complied, sitting in one of the chairs situated in front of his desk. "I have asked you here to give you some news," he went on, "You will no longer be on Kakashi's team." Now this caught my attention. "Negotiation went well, with Suna. The Kazekage sent me a messenger bird. He claimed to be looking forward to meeting you when he arrives for the third exam."

"Well that was fast." I was pleased. Things were going along smoothly. I had been away from Sunakaguru long enough that they would not suspect anything. They would be looking for a 0 year old woman, not a 15 year old girl.

He folded his hands calmly on his desk. "You will be on Baki's team," He looked at me meaningfully. "can you control yourself?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. I was just caught unaware back in the forest. I will not make the same mistake twice." It was absolutely necessary that i keep my cool. if i slipped and killed Gaara i most likely wouldn't be welcomed in Suna. Or depending on the Kazekages opinion of his own son i may be welcomed with open arms. It was best to not kill the boy, that way i would have a definite in.

"Good. I have done all i can for you in this situation. i wish you the best of luck." he smiled warmly

"Thank you for your help Sarutobi." i offered a small smile in return.

I wish i did not need his help. But i had the need to know who i was. Enough time had past where i could safely return to the place of my origin and gather information about whom i had been and how i came to be. To undercover the mystery of my existence.

_"Your existence means nothing. Without us you'd be nothing."_

_"Of course, mother."_

The voices fleeted away as if they were an image in the corner of my eye. Before I could respond to Sarutobi, a knock sounded out. I already knew who it was.

"You may enter," he called. A man came through the door. It was Baki, Gaara's sensei. He was only a sensei to me in a sense that I was now on his team. I could teach more to this man than I could ever learn from him.

I stood and faced the man in front of me. I looked him up and down, sizing him up. Half of his face was covered with a cloth and the half that was visible was set in a stern expression, as if it had gotten stuck like that. Not that i could talk his expression looked positively friendly next to mine.

I turned back towards Sarutobi and nodded before turning back towards Baki. I nodded at him to lead the way. I had taken a quick look in his thoughts and learned that he and his team were staying in a hotel on the more remote side of town. When we stepped outside, I only stopped to open my umbrella to block out the sun's piercing rays. Really, there was way to much sun around here. We walked for a grand total of fifteen minutes until we came to a small hotel. Baki led me to the second floor and stopped in front of a door.

When he opened it I saw that Temari and Kankuro were situated on one side of the room, giving a wide breath of space to Gaara. Both Temari's and Kankuro's eyes widened at the sight of me, and they reflexively got into fighting positions.

"Stop that! This is Amai-san. This is whom i was going to fetch. She is going to be a new member on our team and will accompany us back to Suna by order of the Kazekage." He addressed the three while I leaned lazily on my umbrella.

"You will be staying in the same room as Temari," he said, speaking to me for the first time. i nodded, sleeping wouldn't really be on the agenda though.

I only responded with a curt nod. Then he left the room, muttering about making a training scheduled. The door closed loudly, leaving Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and me alone. I looked over at the older siblings first.

"You can relax. If I wanted to attack you, you would already be dead." I walked over to a chair and sat down, leaned forward and resting my elbows on my knees. I inspected Gaara and he inspected me. He was leaning against a wall, as if bored by the event of my being here. But I saw in his eyes that he wanted me dead.

The room was much to small and stuffy. It felt like i was chocking on his scent. It was amazing and torturous at the same time. He was looking at me to intensely, i couldn't focus my attention an anything but the smell of his chackra and the pulse of blood in his neck. The silence seemed to last forever.

Finally I broke the silence. "If you want me dead, it won't do you any good to just stare at me."

Then I got up and walked towards the door. This heat was killing me, in a figurative sense. i had to escape that room, otherwise i would end up killing him out of pure irritation.

Once i left the hotel i decided to head towards the shopping district. I had to get some lighter clothes; my clothes were too conspicuous. They were worn and out of style, I needed to blend in. I got many odd looks, I supposed because I was carrying the umbrella on a non-rainy day and looked very out of place.

I had been leisurely walking for a few minute when i sensed her. Picking up her familiar chakra i located her half a block behind me. I wondered what she was doing. I sharply turned a corner into an alley while her head was turned. A few moments later, Temari walked past the alley and stopped, looking around after losing track of me.

"Looking for someone?" I asked, leaning casually on the wall.

She spun around at the sound of my voice. I walked out of the alley, stopped beside her for about a second, then continued walking, adjusting my pace so she could keep up.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, not looking at her.

"Gaara told me to trail you, to figure out where you were going," she glanced at me.

"So you followed his order," it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes - you have no idea what he could do to me if I didn't."

"I actually do. He would kill you, correct?"

"Yes." there was a long pause.

We came to a store with clothing that looked acceptable. I entered the shop, with Temari trailing behind. I went over to a rack and began looking through the clothes. Most of the outfits were hideous colors like pink and orange or purple, nothing that fitted my taste.

"This is what you were going out for, clothes?" she asked, amazed.

"Yes." I answered simply

We left the shop and came to a ninja gear store. I settled on one outfit in particular. The shirt was tight fitting corset top. The selves extended from the elbows past the wrist. Underneath was a short sleeved fishnet top. A short skirt that opened in the front and ended at mid thigh covered the tight pant like leggings. There were also a pair of boots that were covered by a shin guard. Not only was it in current style, it covered most of my skin from the sun.

"You look gorgeous, Amai!" Temari exclaimed trying to garner my friendship with compliments. She thought that if we became closer she could uncover more information about me.

"Thanks." I tore the tag off the outfit and carried it to the cashier. Sarutobi had given me some cash to spend.

Back out on the street, I got even more looks. But it was not from women because I looked out of place, though that was a factor. No, it was from men who had lust in their eyes. Their thoughts were absolutely repulsive. I also noticed that Temari kept shooting me looks when she thought I wasn't looking. She had a lot of question swimming around her mind.

"That day in the forest, when you were about to attack Gaara. What was that?" she asked finally speaking up.

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

" You didn't look human. I mean," she added hurriedly, "I know you're human, but you kind of looked like a wild animal." Her words were rushed, she was afraid that I would attack her.

"There is no need for me to explain it. You will probably find out in time anyway. Now, let me ask you a question. Why do you fear your brother?" My voice was icy and full of accusation.

"I fear him because I would have to be crazy not to."

"Fear grows it's root in misunderstanding. If you fear him you will not be able to work well as a team." With those words I disappeared, reappearing in the hotel room where Kankuro and Gaara were waiting.

Kankuro's mouth nearly hit the floor when I walked into the room. His mind was swimming with revolting thoughts, all of which concerned me. It was disgusting; I would never even consider having relations with this human, or any human. And once again there was nothing but silence from Gaara's side of the room, no words or thoughts.

Kankuro was just about to make a lewd comment on my attire when Temari came through the door.

"Im s-sorry Gaara I lo-" she cut short her apology when she noticed me sitting on a chair, staring at Gaara.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 rewritten!**

* * *

_"When you love someone you give them the ability to break your heart and trust that they will not."_

* * *

It was incredibly easy to just sit there and try to figure him out. My mind was captured by him. It was much like a difficult puzzle, with a lot of missing pieces. And all i did was sit there, trying to fit together pieces that obviously didn't match. A month was the amount of time we had to prepare for the final exam. When i wasn't training i was trying to avoid the hotel room as much as possible.

When i was forced to be in the hotel room, which was usually something that involved all of the team to be there, i stared at Gaara. Observing all of his body movements, each twitch, flex and unconscious shift gave me some insight into how he worked. Unfortunately he didn't move much and i didn't learn anything. I had tried to enter his mind with mine forcefully but got no results, not even a flinch.

On a rare day that he was in the room, he and I were having one of our 'stare downs' as I heard Temari call them. Today I was especially irritated; earlier on the street an old man spotted me and started screaming about me being a monster. I supposed he had known me a long time ago and had not forgotten. The encounter left me irritated and angry, very angry. Trying to get into Gaara's mind was really wearing my patience thin. Finally, I snapped.

"What are you thinking?" He looked startled for a second. I didn't speak to him often and when i did it was about training or missions.

But i had decided that the only was i was ever going to know was to ask. It was a direct blow to my pride and my voice did little to deiguise the simmering rage.

"About killing you." he answered blandly, eyes cornering over in my direction. his sand rattled in his gourd. He was thinking about attacking.

"Well, what a coincidence." i flipped a kunai into my palm and flicked it in his direction.

His sand of course protected him. What it didn't protect him from was me. i slid up behind him and placed my hands on his shoulders. i leaned down, almost intoxicated with his scent. That coupled with my anger lead me not caring if i killed him or not.

"I could kill you, before you even batted an eyelash." my tongue flicked out and tasted the smooth texture of his neck. it was surprisingly unprotected by his sand armore. My fangs grazed his skin and i felt him shiver slightly. I could feel the black bleeding into my eyes with blood lust.

I knew this wasn't the way to go about things. i couldn't kill him yet. He did me more good alive than dead. i was not a human who acted on my desires and destroyed my goal. It was just so hard being in a small enclosed space, his scent wafting through my nostrils. his cool demeanor taunting me.

I tried reeling myself in but the primal side of my brain was fighting just as hard for control.

While i was preoccupied trying to regain control over myself Gaara came to his senses and sent a wave of sand at me. The rough grains encased me up to my neck, temporarily halting my movements. This was fortunate, it snapped my mind back into clarity. And i was suddenly no longer furious with Gaara, i was mad at myself. A good hunter knows patience and i had acted to preemptively.

Gaara stood to face me, eyes cold, he lifted his hand and closed his fist. The sand constricted tightly and crushed. I felt my bones grinding together, breaking, and snapping. I did not cry out. I had endured worse pain and it was a fitting reward for my pathetic outburst. It was too human. Pushing my hand through the sand i pulled it out, my wrist was broken. I broke the rest of my body free, sand trying to pull me back to no avail.

I landed on the ground gently. I was pretty sure that at least one of my legs were broken, along with various other body parts. I could already feel my bones snapping and cracking back into place. Rejoining together slowly but surley. it would take a day or two to be back to full shape.

"How did you escape my sand coffin?" he asked coolly.

I didn't respond; instead, I lifted my eyes and looked into his. I was standing at my full height now, my bones had repaired themselves enough to allow me at at least stand straight. I bowed towards him slightly, growling in my mind that I deserved this small humiliation.

"Forgive me for my uh ... outburst. I suggest you don't do that again thought. I will probably go through with killing you next time." I turned and walked towards the door. I stopped when I had closed the it behind me, pausing for a brief second.

* * *

I was tired of it.

Gaara.

I was tired of trying to figure him out, it was taking too much of a toll on me. Making me obsessed. If i continued focusing on him i would lose rack of my goal and would never achieve it. I had to stop thinking about it for now. Plenty of time for that later, after we got to the sand village.

I sat on the roof, watching the sunset from a shadowed spot. It got dark quickly, Bathing m in cooling moonlight. In the corner of my eyes I saw Gaara sitting on the roof opposite from me. He didn't notice me. He seemed deep in thought, or just peaceful. Although i did not have to read his mind to know that was a rare state for the boy.

Dosu of the sound village landed in front of Gaara.

The fool.

He said a few words about eliminating the competition. The overly-cocky bastard. I didn't know the full extent of Gaara's power, but I knew that he was too much for this rookie.

I turned and jumped off of the roof. I didn't need to see the battle to know that Gaara would be the victor. The village was quiet, my internal clock told me that it was about one am. The only villagers who would be about were the drunks, who littered the city like trash.

Said trash was currently sitting in an alley, laughing loudly. They quieted as I passed the opening. Their, loud conversing turned to hushed whispers. I passed the trash-cluttered space without giving them a second glance, not wanting to give them more incentive to confront me. Their footsteps sped to follow me in what they thought to be a sneaky manner.

Well, I had tried to spare their lives.

I had been told many time that I was quite beautiful. An attractive specimen. I found that this trait lured prey to my side more easily. Made them compliant. In the case of the drunks it just made them irritating.

"Hey baby, where ya going?"

"Yeah, why don't you hang with us?"

"We won't bite."

"Hey, come on," said one, grabbing my shoulder.

Bad idea.

I came through the window of my room using a little chakra to steady myself. I landed softly on the floor and padded softly across the carpet. I knew Temari was asleep; I could tell by her breathing.

What I didn't know was that the insomniac sand master had seen me come through the window, hands and face covered in blood.

I walked to the bathroom, taking a white cloth and cleaning the blood from my hands to the best of my abilities. I then refilled the sink and washed my face. When I had finished the sink, and to a greater extent, the rag, were stained red. There were drops of blood on the mirror. I hadn't let a drop of their blood hit my clothing, it would be a shame to have to buy a new wardrobe due to staining.

I walked out of the bathroom and to my small bag of belongings, pulling out a book that had been given to me by someone of importance. I could not remember who it was however. All I knew of it was a feeling that told me that the person who had given me this book was of some importance to me.

It was a book on advanced jutsus. There were hundreds of them, some the Kage's had even written themselves. I sat on my bed and read until the first rays of light struggled to penetrate the heavy black curtain I had hung upon the window.

Temari soon roused herself, and with a quick good morning to me she went into the bathroom to perform her morning necessities. Almost as soon as she closed the door behind her she opened it again and look at me shakily.

"A-Amai-san, who's blood is that in the bathroom?" the fan wielder asked, while examining me for any injuries.

"That blood," I indicated to the bathroom "just so happens to belong to some of the local town drunks.

"You killed them?" she asked.

"Obviously, that amount of blood should make that clear."

"why?"

I thought about the best way to answer her question for a second, then said, "Self defense. And I didn't kill all of them, only four."

"Oh. . . I-I'll go get breakfast then." she left the room quickly.

Gaara came into the room a little later and looked at our bathroom, which I had not bothered to clean, and made no comment. He sat at the kitchen table where the three siblings usually ate their meals.

"Where is Temari?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.

I sighed. Today just seemed full of questions. "She said something about going out to pick up breakfast."

He nodded, and I went into the small kitchen the hotel provided. I set a teapot on the stove and set about making the herbal blend. It was one of the only substances besides blood i found tolerable. When it was finished, I carried the pot to the table and poured myself a cup, not offering any to Gaara. It was not my place to serve him. When Kankuro entered he sat down at the table where I was absently sipping my tea, letting the hot liquid slide down my throat. He poured himself a cup of tea before noticing the bathroom.

"What the hell! Who's blood is that?!" he looked at Gaara, who didn't answer, not only because he didn't want to, but because he didn't know. He just looked in my direction, waiting for me to answer Kankuro's question.

"Town drunks" I answered shortly. All of these questions were starting to irritate me.

We sat in relative silence until Temari came back into the room, carrying a bag of food which Kankuro eyed hungrily.

"Good morning, Kankuro, Gaara," she said while setting plates in front of each of us.

Kankuro immediately set upon his food, while Temari and Gaara ate at a slower rate. I didn't eat anything at all, I just stared at the food in front of me and made no move to even pick up my chopsticks.

"Afnt fo gorin fo efat?" Kankuro asked me, his mouth full of food.

I translated that into 'aren't you going to eat?'

"No," I answered. I didn't eat at all. Food held no taste for me and on the rare occasion made me literally sick. And I was only hungry for blood, so there would be no point in eating anyway. Eating was an inconvenience for humans. Not eating for a duration of time withered away your strength and made you weak. If you did not eat you'd starve and die.

I pushed away from the table and went into the bathroom. I first cleaned the blood from the mirror, and other various places around the room. Then I turned on the shower and stripped out of my clothing. It had been awhile since I had a real shower, in the forest I had just bathed in little lakes and rivers.

I showered quickly and wrapped a towel around my naked body. I stood in front of the mirror. I a swift movement I used my fingers to write Gaara's name in the mist covered surface. I looked at it for a few moments, then in a swift movement wiped it away with a movement of my hand.

"I can dispose of him just as easily." somewhere in the back of my mind a little nagging thought existed, telling me that was a lie.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 Rewritten!**

* * *

_"Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."_

* * *

It had been about 15 years but i still recognized the chackra signiture i was following to the large clearing. It had been a long time since i had seen the old pervert and he may have found new information during his travels.

In the clearing i identified Naruto clad only in his boxers and trying to accomplish a summons jutsu. Looking on from a large rock sat an older man with white hair. Finally noticing my presence Jiraya turned to look at me.

"Hello, Amai." he said nonchalantly. His eyes went wide and he jumped up "Wow you look great, very reveling." he said referring to the glimps of skin that showed through the small opening of my cloak. "I knew you had a nice body, but wow, every time I see you it's like the angels singing!"

I pulled the cloak closed.

"Still a pervert I see, eh Jiraiya-san?" I grabbed the notepad from his hands before he could start drawing a picture of me. i took a seat on the flat rock.

He sighed in defeat and sat down next to me. A small distance away Naruto was struggling to summon enough chakra to create a frog, but he just kept producing tad poles, which I found relatively funny. Not that it showed on my face.

Finally he seemed to take notice of my presence. "Oi, Amai-chan, watch what I can do!" He then tried to summon a frog, but once again succeeded in summoning a tad pole.

"You're not focusing. To gather enough chakra for a summons, you need to have good control. To have good chakra control you need to have focus." I sighed, seeing that he didn't get it. "Like this."

I pushed myself off of the rock and walked over to stand by Naruto.

"First focus, block out everything around you." I made the tiger sign, and opened one of my eyes to see if Naruto was doing the same. He was. I released the sign and watched Naruto.

"No, you're to stiff, you're not concentrating." He relaxed his shoulders. "Now focus that concentration on gathering chakra. When you do that, do the hand signs." He did. "And release the chakra into the jutsu."

There was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared it was the same as before - a tad pole. Naruto was an idiot. It takes years to achieve complete focus, there was no way he could learn it in a matter of minutes.

"Look, this one has legs!" he yelled excitedly.

"Yes, but it's still a tad pole" I said unemotionally.

I went and sat back down next to Jiraiya. I leaned forward and rested my chin in my palms, making sure that my black cloak that I had chosen to wear that day covered me, so no ray of sun touched my sensitive skin. I noticed the frog sanin looking at me and glanced in his direction, not really caring.

"Since when did you start liking humans?" He asked, sucking on his absurdly long pipe.

I hissed at his comment "I don't _like_ humans. I can barley stand this one. I just happen to find the jinchuriki very interesting."

"That they are. What about that little psychopath from the sand. From what i hear you have quite a few thing in common. Possibly find him more than a little interesting?"

"I was put on that boy's team to get me back into the sand village. That is all" i replied shortly.

The tone in my voice obviously warned him that he was about to go too far. We sat in quiet for a while, until I decided that it was time for me to take my leave.

Something had changed when I left. For one thing the entire team was gathered into mine and Temari's room. They usually only gather fro meals and mission reports, which they usually informed me of. The fact that i hadn't been invited, and there was no meal on the table was suspicious. I didn't bother looking into their minds, thoughts hung about the room like a thick cloud telling me all i needed to know. I could tell as soon as I entered the room where Temari, Kankuro, Baki, and Gaara were. All eyes fell on me as I entered the room, and all conversations had ceased. Baki stood to leave, catching my eye before I left. A few minutes after he had gone, I turned and went out the door after him. I found him walking down an alley.

"Baki."

He froze and turned slowly to face me, trying to keep his face expressionless. But it was in his eyes. The fear. My face was set in a haughty look, sending a chill down his spine. Good. I wanted him frightened. Frightened men talked a lot easier than brave ones. I walked closer to him so I was a mere foot away. Even though he was a good two feet and a half taller than me, he still felt as if I was the one looking down on him. Another chill went down his spine.

Even though i already knew what he was thinking it was good to practice gaining information in way other than mind reading.

"Now Baki, did you really think you could hide it from me, hm?" I made sure he heard the underlying threat hidden in the words.

"I am hiding nothing, Amai-san," Baki said, fighting to keep his voice calm, but fear was lurking behind every word.

"The sand-sound agreement. Do you think me a fool?"

"What!?" I mentally snorted.

I was glaring now, my eyes narrowed only slightly but it was powerful enough. "You know very well what. The sand-sound agreement to invade Konoha." My voice promised a painful death if he even thought of lying to me again.

I stalked forward and gripped him by the throat lifting him off of the ground a little, pressing him into the wall. Little droplets of blood ran down his neck from where my razor sharp nail dug into his flesh. I wanted to so badly kill this man, his blood running and chackra flaring in panic. But I needed to get information out of him first. A dead man could tell no tales.

He didn't understand all that was going on; in his mind was a jumble of panicked, incoherent thoughts. That was the thing about panic. It makes you stupid, unable to think straight. But I guess they can't help it. Panic is a reaction; it sets in slowly so you don't notice until it tightens it deathly grip on you. It spreads like a poison worming its way into every part of your body and immobilizing it.

"I-I was o-ordered by t-the kakekage, I have n-no choice."

"Don't give me that shit. You always have a choice. In this case you had two. Either help destroy Kohona, your allied nation, or go against your own village in an act that would surly peg you as a traitor. But in either case you are a traitor, Baki." I dropped him carelessly onto the ground, giving him a hard kick in the side and knocking the breath out of him for a good five minutes.

He sat there speechless as I turned preparing to walk quickly towards the Hokage tower. I didn't care if I was now a sand shinobi or that this was a village that had hated me a long time ago. But it couldn't be helped - I had to do something; I wouldn't participate in the traitorous acts of Suna. Sarutobi at least deserved to know, so he could protect his people by any means necessary.

I started to leave but thought better of it and spun quickly, balling my hand into a fist and smashing it into Baki's face. Semi-satisfied, I turned and ran at full speed to the Hokage's tower. I saw that the light in Sarutobi's office was on. Not wanting to go through the front door and alert any ANBU of my presence, I decided to enter through the window. I walked to the side of the building, to the naked eye it appeared as smooth as glass, but I could see ever imperfection that could be used as a hand hold. I skillfully climbed up on it, not wanting to use any chakra. I used invisible cracks and blemishes in the stone to pull myself up. They provided momentary hand and foot holds. But none of these were strong enough to support my weight for long, so I had to move quickly. Like a spider, I maneuvered my way to the window and swung my self in, landing gracefully on the floor.

He was seated behind his desk, bent over what was undoubtedly paper work that he had failed to complete during the day and was forced to do late into the night. He was reading a document that slipped through his mind, leaving very little meaning behind. I guessed being Hokage had its down points. The movement of his eyes ceased when he sensed my chakra, which I had felt no need to hide upon entering the room.

"Hello, Amai." he did not turn around, nor did his voice sound very surprised. But of course, that what was to be expected from the Hokage.

"Sarutobi." I nodded in his direction, moving to stand in front of his large desk that was laden with much paperwork.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he looked up from the document he was reading.

"Grave news, I am afraid" I now knew I had his full attention "There is a planned attack on Kohona. It is a joint attack by the Sand and Sound villages." his body stiffened ever so slightly.

"Are you sure of this?"

"I got the information from Baki's thoughts. He said that the Kazekage gave him and his team orders. They are to begin attacking during the chunin exams. It has something to do with Gaara and his demon. I do not know the details of the invasion, but I know what Gaara's team intend to do. It's probably a diversion, or the Kazekage intends to use Gaara as some sort of weapon."

We made eye contact, and I showed him all of the information I had gathered.

"Yes, I have heard that Subaku no Gaara is called the deadliest weapon in Sunagakure. To think. A child as a weapon. I will have to consult the village council on this matter," he said, resting his elbows on the table, folding his hands and placing his chin on them. A frown had worked its way onto his face.

"That's it?" What was he thinking? "You should reinforce the borders, alert the ANBU. Prepare for an invasion!" he was thinking that we would have enough ninja and that our walls would protect us. He was also foolishly thinking that Suna wouldn't betray Kohona.

"I will Amai, there is no need to prepare for an all out invasion"

"What?!'

"We already have escape plans set out for the villagers, and we also have good ninja that will fight to protect the village."

"I have no doubt in your ninja. But as your former allies, there is a good chance that Suna already knows of those escape plans. I do not say this because I care for their lives, I just do not want to see a genocide!"

"I trust in our ties of alliance with Suna. There could be unknown factors that we have to consider. We cannot just send the Village into panic by telling them that they have to prepare for an invasion. But besides that, I do not think that the Sand village will join with the Sound."

"Your ties of alliance mean nothing now. They have been broken!"

_"Damn humans - they break treaties and will stab an ally in the back as soon as they are given a better offer," _I thought ruefully.

"You know how Orochimaru is!" I spat the name with contempt. "He wants to see this village fall and burn to the ground. He wants to see you dead at his feet!" I was being blunt and harsh, but it seemed the only way to get through to him. "He will bring as many sound nin as necessary. We know little of the sound village, for all we know they could have been planning this for years. Which they probably have."

"Yes, it is likely that this has been planned for years. We must take that into consideration." He sighed ran a hand over his face. "We must also take into consideration that Orocimaru is one of the legendary three."

"That is why I do not want you to have to fight him."

"I will up the security and alert our ANBU to look for suspicious activity. Telling my people to prepare for invasion will only cause panic and that would result in even more casualties. But I will alert all Chunin, Jonin, and ANBU."

"No, Sarutobi." my voice was barely above a whisper now. "It's not good enough. It won't just be Suna attacking us, it will be the sound also. The ties of men have been broken, your allies have stabbed you in the back. And what do you do? You sit and do nothing. My suggestion is that you think to cancel the exams, and put the village on alert."

He sighed heavily. He was old and tired, but it was still his duty to protect this village no matter his age. He was the Hokage. Stiffly he got up from his chair and walked to the window, folding his hands behind his back and watching his village sleep.

"Why do you think I became Hokage? I became Hokage because I love this village."

He was weary with age; I could easily see that. I could also see every crease of age, every tremble of his hand. The quaver in his voice as he spoke. I could hear his bones and muscles creak with age as he moved. His body was long past its prime. It would soon become stiff and cold in death. He was old. He was growing weak. He was human. And it disgusted me.

"I have protected this village for a long time. I have looked after and cared for every one of these villagers. I don't do it because I am Hokage and I have to. No, I do it because they are my precious people - every one of them. When the time comes when I have to fight for them, I will."

At his words I felt a little more respect for the old man. But in there was a little bitterness. Precious people? How was it possible for him to care? I bet some of the people he called precious wouldn't fight for him. Fall for him. No, they would run and hide, letting the ninja risk their live for theirs. One who couldn't protect his or herself did not deserve to be protected.

He turned away from the window and looked at me, trying to read my expression. But I wouldn't let my emotions show that easily. I walked past him to the window. Before I jumped out, I turned and looked over my shoulder at him.

"I truly do hope you survive what's coming, Sarutobi." my voice was blank and cold, but I'm sure he knew I meant that. Or at least I hope he knew.

Without looking back, I jumped from the window, landing lightly on the street outside. I stood and walked swiftly towards the drunk district of the village.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 Rewritten, Barely changed anything in this one tho  
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_"Have you ever noticed that anyone going faster that you is a maniac, and anyone going slower than you is a retard?"_

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There was an air of excitement mixed with anticipation as the chunin exams drew ever closer. The night before the exams, you could practically taste it in the wind. I sat on a high rooftop breathing it in. Many dignitaries from other villages had come to oversee the event. The sand villages own Kazekage was also venturing across the dessert to witness the event and pay homage to thier allies they were about to betray.

Oddly enough i felt anticipation for this event as well. i knew that there would be an attack. This would throw the entire village into chaos and many ninja would die. Sarutobi may die. Although his sagging skin, creaking bones, and slowing of the mind were obvious reminders of his age, it had seemed as if he would be around forever.

Behind me I heard the door of the roof open and close. I needn't look, I knew who it was. Gaara. I spared him no glance as he walked to the opposite side of the roof and sat. We sat like that for awhile, neither of us acknowledging the other's presence. Stuck in our own little worlds. In my world I was trying to block out all of the other little worlds of all the other little people. Their voices in my head, once a low buzz, had been getting louder. That usually happened when I fed. My vampire senses heightened, my hearing, my senses of smell, my special talent. But that was not the case. Usually after I feed, my heightened senses go away after a couple hours. It had been a week since I last fed. So why is this happening? I thought as I brooded in my little world.

I do not know what was in Gaara's world, as his voice was not included in those that were irritating me. I suppose he was thinking of his match between the Uchiha tomorrow. Apparently, it was supposed to be the main event of the tournament, according to the thoughts of Kohona's council. I was mildly curious as to whom I would be fighting, as I had yet to be informed. At least eight shinobi I knew of were competing. I didn't invest too much curiosity, as it would most likely be a weaker genin that would be my opponent.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and expanded my other senses. It was amazing what the humans didn't see. They saw only with their eyes, whilst I chose to see with all my senses. I could smell the scent of cooking noodles from the ramen shop where the owner was presumably working late. I heard wind sweep through alleyways, gentle snores of men and women tucked into their beds. All this created something like a picture in my mind, which was as clear as if I had my eyes open.

With another barely audible sigh, I put down the mental barriers I had constructed to block out the men's thoughts. Night was the only time I could really be at ease. Of course, I could still hear the thoughts as their owners slept seeing as they were louder than ever, but as they slept their brains slowed and their thoughts muffled, as if through a thick curtain.

Quite oblivious to the boy sitting across the roof, I tried to concentrate. Holding my palm out in front of me, I pulled shadows from their original casters and gathered it in my palm. I shaped the shadows into any shape I wished. I never figured out how I had gotten this skill; it was quite like that of Gaara's, although I was sure I had no demon sealed inside of me. I was very familiar with every nook and cranny of my mind, and if anything was locked away in there I would have known about it. Remembering that Gaara was present, I opened my eyes and released the shadows, letting them each return to their rightful places.

I turned my head slightly so I could see over my shoulder. Gaara was watching me carefully. I knew he had seen what I could do. Of all the roofs I had to sit on, it just had to be this one. Time to do some damage control, I thought wearily. I stood and walked to the middle of the roof. I gazed at Gaara, who at the exact same time as me had risen and moved across the roof, like my mirror image. We stood a few feet away from each other. He had his arms crossed, giving off an air of uncaring. But his eyes told it all; he was curious. We could have circled each other like in a dramatic movie, and it would not have been any tenser.

"How did you do that?" he asked

He was referring to the shadow manipulation. "I don't know, maybe I'm a demon," I answered mockingly.

In a matter of seconds, he had me incased in sand an inch or two above the ground.

"What do you know of demons?" he said furiously, although his voice betrayed nothing. When I didn't respond his sand tightened. The bushin that I had created disappeared under the pressure with a poof, leaving only white chakra smoke.

"I know nothing of demons, Sabaku no Gaara. But I do know that demons are demons and humans are humans. No matter their relationship." I stressed the last sentence, implying that even thought he thought himself a demon because of what was sealed inside of him, he was wrong. I knew what real demons were.

"I was a demon at birth. I took the life of the woman who gave birth to me. All because of what is inside of me. I was trained by the best in my village in hopes that I would become a powerful weapon for the village to wield at their choosing. By the age of 7 I had become unstable and the village began to fear and hate me. They called for my death. I was a demon.

"The kazekage, the man who I never considered a kind of father," So his father was the kage? "sent various assassins after me. I killed them all. Eventually he sent my uncle, the only man I had ever thought loved me. It was a lie. He hated me for killing his sister, my mother. I killed him too. Because I am a demon that you claim to know nothing about." His voice was so cold. As he spoke, it was like someone had run their cold, pale fingers up my spine.

We stayed like that for awhile - just standing across from each other. Taking in the other's appearance. Then I spoke.

"Is that what you truly believe, or is that what they have brainwashed you into believing?" Humans were very good at that thing.

He ignored my question. "Do you know why I was a demon at birth? The kakekage used a ninja technique to bind a incarnation of sand to me. It was Shakaku, previously sealed in a tea kettle."

"What a twisted way to show love," I said, sarcasm dripping off every syllable.

"Love? Don't measure me by your values." He hissed.

"Love is a human value, not mine. And what of your family, do you hate them too?"

"Family? Let me tell you what kinds of links I have with them. The are just lumps of meat linked by murderous intent."

"I agree, but it's not just your family - its all humans, twisted, manipulated, murderous. Your father was just one of the worse ones." It was true. The man had power and he missed it.

"Yes, at seven the attacks on my life were futile; I had become the trump card to our village. But a being that is too strong eventually becomes the embodiment of fear. I was still handled with care but I had become classified as dangerous. I'm only a relic of the past they wish to get rid of."

"Relics are items, insignificant things. If you are calling yourself a relic, then you believe you're insignificant. But to get rid of the feeling, you have chosen to kill to feel significant. To feel like your existence means something." I understood this. But he had no real reason; he didn't kill wrong-doers, believing he was making a difference, he just killed simply to kill. "But it doesn't matter how many people you kill. Eventually your existence will flicker out like a candle and you will die. Your existence will be remembered for a while by this generation, and the next, but over the years your name will be lost and the deaths of the people you killed will mean nothing. Your entire life will mean nothing." I turned away from him and phased out of sight.

The arena quickly filled with spectators wishing to witness the exams. Higher up in better seats were the feudal lords dressed in flashy robes, trying to out due each other by flaunting their garbs to show their wealth. Above them sat Sarutobi; he was dressed in his regular red and white robes, and perched atop of his head was that weird shaped hat with a kanji symbol for fire on it. There was a empty chair next to him. I assumed it was reserved for the Kazekage of Sunagakure. Odd that a kage should show up late.

Just as I was thinking that the kazekage appeared, donned in the traditional blue and white robes. Behind him were two Suna Jonin. Oddly enough, he also had a white cloth covering his face, leaving only his eyes to be viewed.

There was a strange aura about him. It was hard to explain; it was kind of like a genjustu, but my eyes detected nothing and I felt no familiar genjutsu chakra pattern. Odd, I thought, narrowing my eyes at the kage. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, but I stored the information in the place in my mind where all information goes. It was like a library of sorts, but in my head. I preferred to think of it simply as organized thoughts.

Next to me I felt Gaara stiffen, I glanced over at him. His eyes had narrowed in the direction of the kage. He was emitting a rather alarming amount of killer intent.

I tuned back into the lecture we were being given by the chunin who was running this part of the exams. Not that he had much of anything interesting to say.

"There are some things I need to tell you, now look at this." He reached into his vest and pulled out a piece of paper.

On the paper it was a sort of map of the pairings. Naruto vs. Neji. Sasuke vs. Gaara. Kankuro vs. Shino. Temari vs. Shikamaru. And my match, Amai vs. Tetsu. Testsu was a sound genin that had come and taken Dosu's place in the finals.

"There was a little change in the match ups, so check who your going against again."

"Hey, umm, Sasuke hasn't arrived yet. What are we going to do?" asked Naruto.

"If he doesn't arrive here by the time his match starts, then he loses by default."

Gaara was clenching and unclenching his hands, either in disappointment, or he was anxious for his match.

The proctor sighed. "Okay, listen up - the same rules as the preliminaries. There are no rules. A match is only over if someone dies or gives up. If I feel that a match is over, I will step in. Don't argue with me over it. Got it? The first match is Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji."

The rest of us went up to the balcony, where we would be waiting until our matches. We got a pretty good view of the field from there. Temari and Kankuro stood away from the leaf shinobi, but Gaara and I stayed as far away from everyone as possible. Me, because I didn't want to be that close to the humans, and Gaara, I suppose because he just didn't like them. It was odd that we were ok standing next to one another when were were only linked by the understanding that we wanted to kill one another. that and our dislike of everyone else.

I scanned the stands of civilians and saw Sakura, a blond girl who (with a little look in Sakura's mind) I identified as Ino, and others I didn't care to identify. Hidden in the crowd were various ANBU and ninja disguised as civilians. So, the old man was tacking my advice and setting up precautions for an attack. On the outside of the arena there were ANBU patrolling, the same above the arena.

The match started out pretty much as everyone expected. Naruto created about 50 shadow clones, which was quite impressive seeing as they were solid, he had them all charge at Neji at once. Neji activated his Byakugan and easily evaded and attacked the clones.

"You aren't going to catch him like that; you either need to be faster than his eyes, or you need to come up with a plan to trick his eyes." I watched the match lazily, looking for all the flaws in Naruto's attacks, which there were quite a lot of.

Naruto made the mistake of staying back while his clones fought, making it obvious which one was real. Neji ran past the clones and used his Gentle Fist style to hit Naruto's tenketsu. In a poof, all his clones disappeared. The real Naruto started laughing.

"I told you….not to come to conclusions on your own." With that the clone disappeared.

It was surprising to say the least. Even I had not seen that coming. It looked like Jriaya had taught the kid something.

Two Narutos came at Neji from the back and one of them tried landing a hit on Neji, only to be blocked by a shield of chakra. Neji spun, using Kaiten to repel Naruto and his clone.

Another ultimate defense.

Naruto formed more clones and tried attacking Neji from all sides. It wouldn't work; his byuuakugan allowed him to see in a 360 degrees, plus his kaiten made it almost impossible to land a hit. All of Naruto's clones and himself were repelled back again.

The byakugan was a powerful bloodline limit. I understood it a little. It originally came from the sharingan. It allowed the possessor to see at a 360 degree angle and also gave them the ability to see through solid objects. It complemented their gentle fist style perfectly, allowing the Hyuugas to see their opponent's chakra system. Neji's kaiten was simple enough; he intercepted his opponent's blow with chakra, then spins his body like a top to parry the attack.

"This is it… you are in range of my divination." Neji got into a stance that was strange. " Jyuuken move. Hakke Rokujuuyonshou."

This move was also known as 64 palm strike. He hit most of Naruto's chakra points in a matter of seconds. As far as I could tell Naruto was done for, he shouldn't even be able to move after that attack. But he stood. This child had a lot of determination; where most ninja would have laid down like a whipped dog, he continued to fight. But he was tired and low on chakra, whereas Neji was barely exerted at all.

"Stop fighting, it's only going to end the same if you don't. I have no grudge against you." said Neji.

"Shut up. Even if you don't, I have one against you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why…When you're so strong…When you have eyes that seem to know everything. Why did you mentally attack Hinata when she was trying her best?"

It was simple, really. There was bad blood between the branch and the head family of the Hyuugas. Neji blamed Hinata because she was simply part of the head family. It was so simple. Revenge. The thing that drives all men to do unspeakable acts of unjustified violence.

Neji reached behind his head and untied his head band, revealing the caged bird seal. It was a seal that made the branch house members slave to the head family. It was disgusting. Memories flashed through Neji's head, and I quickly blocked them out; I did not want to see his memories. It was not my place to feel sympathy for the branch family. What went on in the world of men was none of my concern. it was just another example of well spread hatred.

Neji once again attacked Naruto, landing multiple hits and knocking the boy off of his feet. That was it, he was done for. His chakra was completely depleted. Naruto formed the tiger sign. Red chakra started forming around him. The Kyuubi's chakra. It was surprising. When did he learn to harness its power? Jiriaya must have been a way better teacher then I gave him credit for. The chakra whipped in the air around him. There were nine tails of chakra.

But still this child kept surprising me more and more. I didn't like surprises.

Needless to say. This match was as good as over. It didn't matter how good Neji was, he stood no chance against the Kyuubi's raw power.

Naruto's speed and strength went through the roof. He finished Neji quickly by burrowing underground, using the hole he had created in his last attack. Coming out of the ground he landed a upward punch to Neji's chin, sending him feet back and rendering him unable to move. Naruto was the victor of this match.

"This kid is very unpredictable."

Supposedly the match after Naruto's was Sasuke's, but he had not shown up. I glanced toward where the Kazekage and Sarutobi were sitting. The Kazekage was telling Sarutobi that they should postpone Sasuke's match until the boy showed up.

Sarutobi stood and addressed the crowd "We will postpone this match and move onto the next match."

The proctor called for the next competitors to come down to the ring. I turned my head so I could see Temari.

"He's smart - don't underestimate him," I said lowly. She nodded and jumped on her fan, flying down to the stadium.

The match was interesting. The Shikamaru kid was smart, but he was really lazy. At the beginning of the match he didn't look like much, but he managed to trap Temari with his Shadow bind technique using the hole that Naruto created. Although he had the match clearly in his favor, he forfeited.

Although he was a good strategist, his Shadow skills were way under par. He relied too heavily on that on jutsu for it to be that weak.

I sighed. These gennin today would be useless in battle.

There was still no sign of the Uchiha, and the crowd was starting to get restless.

Temari came back up into the waiting area.

"You underestimated your opponent," I said without looking at her.

"Temari, what's going on - is he really not going to show?" asked Kankuro.

"He'll be here," Gaara said quietly. "He'll definitely be here."

Ten minutes were up; Sasuke had lost his match.

"The ten minutes are up. I officially declare this match-" the proctor didn't have time to finish his sentence. There was a swirl of leaves, and when they cleared, there stood Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Sorry we're late, he isn't - you know - disqualified, is he?" asked Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Lucky for you, we extended the deadline for his match twice. You guys just made it in time." The proctor said.

Next to me Gaara had a grin on his face. It wasn't an everyday grin that normal people might wear on occasion. This was a grin that showed his obvious bloodlust and excitement. He wanted to kill this kid.

"Okay, listen, Gaara - don't let him throw off the plan." Said Kunkuro. This caught my interest although i had already squeezed some specifics from Baki. Temari put her hand over his mouth, quickly glancing at me and then at Gaara.

Gaara turned and walked slowly down the stairs.

I turned away from them and walked out of the waiting area after him. Gaara was radiating off a lot of killer intent. I followed him closely, but he didn't even stop to acknowledge me. Two grass nins were waiting for Gaara as he walked down that hallway. He came to a stop and just looked at them with a level glare. I came up beside him and stopped as well, sizing up the grass nins.

"You puny kids think this tournament is about you, but it's really about the people who bet on you, or against you in your case. Our masters got a lot of money on the other guy to win." the nin who spoke had a raspy voice that was slightly irritated. I just wished I could kill them and get it over with.

"Got it? That means you gotta lose." the second nin spoke this time.

"Well, so what's it gonna be, kid? If you don't forfeit then we'll just have to kill you and your little girlfriend?"

The cork on Gaaras gourd twisted slowly, and the sand inside his gourd shifted with a soft shhing sound.

"Maybe he's to scared to talk."

The first nin pulled out a kunai from his shirt, the cork in Gaara's gourd shot off as sand erupted from within. The light bulbs overhead shattered, bathing the area in darkness. The sand flew at the first man, pulling him to the floor and covering him. The sand then flew at the second man, who tried to run after realizing his mistake. The sand caught his ankles, pulling him back towards Gaara with a panicked scream. He was quickly silenced as the sand crushed him like the first nin.

The sand slithered back into Gaara's gourd, and he glanced at me before continuing walking. I had been watching the whole scene with interest, though it did not show on my face. Ahead of us a man came running into view, drawn by the grass nin's screams.

"What the-" It was all the man got out before I threw a kunai that hit him between the penetrated his brain, killing him quickly and throwing him back a few feet to the lighted area.

Gaara looked at me again and continued walking. Naruto and the boy Shikamaru were standing on the stairs, and had witnessed the whole affair. I just ignored them, as did Gaara. Gaara was dangerous and unstable at the moment, very powerful.

Naruto and Shikamaru were frozen on the spot, their eyes still locked on the corpse of the sound nin I had killed. Fear was radiating off of them in waves. It was very alluring.

At the bottom of the steps I turned to Gaara.

"Put the Uchiha in his place." With that I turned and headed back up the stairs, where Naruto and Shikamaru were now sitting.

"If we had come up the stairs a second earlier, that could have been us just now. I've never in my life seen anyone kill like that with out batting an eye. And not just Gaara, that girl too. Did you see that kunai? It went right through that guys head." said Shikamaru with a sigh.

I came into view and mentally laughed at his words.

"A-amai-san!" Naruto stuttered, seeing me.

"Get used to the killing boys, you will be seeing a lot more of it. You're a ninja, act like one. If we had chosen to attack you, you would be dead because you were to paralyzed by your own fear." I walked past them and headed back up to the waiting area, where Temari and Kankuro were.

"You guys need to tell me of this plan. I know of it, but I do not know the specifics," I said, choosing not to look at either of the two.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I didn't rewrite to much in this chapter because as this story progressed my writing got much better. So hopefully as we go along there will be less for me to edit and rewrite so i can get on with continuing this story! Also after this chapter is when things take a turn away from the original Naruto storyline. Mysteries about Amai are revealed and a relationship between her and Gaara starts to form!**  
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_"When you are sorrowful look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight"_

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The two simultaneously looked at each other.

"What plan?" asked Temari, feigning ignorance.

"The sand-sound agreement." I made sure to keep my voice low, so the conversation did not reach any unwanted ears.

Silence.

I sighed. I would have to do this the hard way. I looked over each of them, and finally decided that Kankuro would probably be the easier of the two to get the information out of. His mind would probably yield more easily. Before he even had the chance to blink, I was in front of him and had caught his eyes with my own.

I entered his mind, which resembled a large hallway with many doors. The hall itself was white, and the doors were different colors. The floor was dusted with a thin layer of sand, so my steps were padded and virtually silent except for the soft sound of shifting sand.

There were many doors in three or four different colors. The darkness of the color usually represented how bad or good a particular memory was. The black doors, even though there were few of them, told me that these were considered particularly bad memories. There were quite a few more red doors then black, but they were still few in number. These doors represented memories both good and unpleasant. The ones that were currently on either side of me were faded and older looking. This meant that these memories had happened quite awhile back, and were in no way present. I was sure that as I traveled along the red door would become richer in color, meaning the memory was more recent.

As I moved along down the hallway, searching for one door in particular, I encountered many more yellow doors. These, I knew, represented a particularly happy time in his life. With out thinking I walked over to one of those doors and stood in front of it. You know what they say, curiosity kills the cat. Good thing I was not cat. I opened the door to reveal a small family sitting around a table. At the head was a younger Kankuro; in front of him was a big cake. This was obviously a birthday celebration.

I felt a strange welling in my chest at the sight, and quickly shut the door.

_"This is not the time to get off task_." I reprimanded myself, and continued along the hallway.

I walked down the seemingly endless hallway it until I came to the door I was searching for. It contained the particular memory. It was a conversation with Kankuro, Baki, Temari, and Gaara. Baki was informing them of their orders from the Kazekage. I listened into the conversation for a while, until the scene before me started to fade and blur. I turned and retreated out of his mind, already having the information I needed.

Coming back into the conscious world, I pulled away my gaze from Kankuro's just as he collapsed on the ground, drawing the attention of the other participants.

"Oi, is he dead?!" yelled Naruto, being as dumb as ever.

Gaara had entered the stadium by now, and was standing straight across from Sasuke. Both were sizing each other up.

"The rules are the same as in the preliminaries. The match will continue until one of you dies or gives up." said the proctor. But off course, this match would only end in the destruction of Konoha. With hundreds of sand and sound nin in the fire nation or on its borders, it would be hard to defend the leaf village, even with all the ANBU and jounin Sarutobi had placed around the gates and in stadium.

This was going to be a war.

But in a way, peace can not exist with out war, and war in turn cannot exist with out peace. That is the way of man, the needless fighting. If the had found a way to exist with out war, what would that do to mankind? Would they be any less advanced? Or would they be more primitive? But that is wishful thinking; mankind made its choice of using war as a tool for peace and now they must pay the price of it, with thousands of human lives.

The only thing I could do now was watch this battle carefully and protect Sarutobi. I pulled some shadow from the corner of the room and merged it with some of my own chakra. Releasing it, I looked around to make sure none of the people in the waiting area had seen my little display. They hadn't. I used the other shadow in the arena to transport the shadow merged with my chakra over to the kage box. I attached it to Sarutobi. It served as a kind of tracking device in my mind, so even if I could not smell or sense his presence I would be able to find him. It was virtually undetectable. Even if it was sensed, most would just pass it off as the chakra of one of the many kekkei genkais in Konoha, as there were many of them.

Gaara's match hadn't even started by the time I pulled my attention back to the fight. He had a look on his face, a smile, but not one of joy. Sand was just starting to leak from Gaara's gourd. Seeing this, Sasuke leapt back in a defensive position. I don't know what happened, but Gaara doubled over in what seemed to be pain.

"Don't be mad at me kaa-san," he said in a raspy voice. That's when it happened. His memories hit me like a brick wall, sending pain coursing through my body and memories coursing through my mind. His memories. "Back there…back there I made you absorb foul blood. I'm sorry. But… this time…It'll taste better" again, another wave of memories swept over me, making me loss my composer take a small step back, stumbling slightly. But this, to my relief, was not noticed by the others.

It was incredibly painful. I had trained my mind and body to deal with pain. But this was different; there were no wounds on my body. I was in pain but the pain did not belong to me.

It was his.

I stopped trying to go against the pain and allowed myself to absorb it. Taking it all in, my body calm, I was able to see some of the thoughts and memories that were causing him such pain, me such pain.

Distantly I heard Kankuro's voice. "He has begun to converse now, this is bad!"

Black.

_That was all there was to see. The ground I was standing on, I'm not even sure if I was standing on anything, felt like shifting sand. I could feel a soft wind gently caressing my face, carrying along small grains of sand with it. Slowly, the sound of children playing reached me. At first it was distant, but it steadily grew louder. The blackness around me seemed to twist and blur until a scene cleared before me._

_It was a children's playground in Suna. A bunch of kids were playing a game with a small red ball off on the other side of the playground._

_"Throw it over here!" the ball sailed over the small child's head, landing over by the small swing set. "Aww, you threw it to far, go get it!"_

_"But look who's over there." One pointed and lowering his voice to whisper "My mommy told me not to talk to him."_

_"My mom told me he was a demon, and that we shouldn't talk to him or he would give us a weird disease or something."_

_I followed their barely concealed gazes over to a small swing set, where there sat a boy with very familiar red hair. He was sitting forlornly, clutching a worn and dirty bear to his chest with one hand, the other gripping the chain of the swing. He was very young in this particular memory, about five or six years old. He looked pretty much the same, except of course shorter, and the rings around his eyes were significantly smaller._

_As if he sensed the others talking about him, he raised his head and looked over at them. His seafoam eyes were somehow softer. They did not yet hold hate or malice, they only held hurt and confusion. It was strange, almost as if I was looking into the eyes of a completely different person. But no, they were the same. This version of him had just not learned the truth to hate._

_The world blurred, swirling, contorting until it became a different image. This one took place on a rooftop. The moon reflected on the kunai in a masked ninja's hand as he attacked a young Gaara. Gaara's face was twisted into a look of pure pain and confusion._

_The person's face was covered with tan cloth that covered all but his eyes, so Gaara could not identify who had come to make an attempt at his life this time. I sniffed the air around him slightly, his scent was like Gaara's, marking him as Gaara's kin. The only difference was his individual scent that every person (human or otherwise) had, and it was not mixed with Shakaku's, as Gaara's was._

_It was his uncle. I knew this because of all the other little memories that were swirling around the outer edges of my mind while I focused on this one._

_Gaara's sand swirled around him and lashed out at the man, who tried to dodge but was too slow. The sand wrapped around him in a vice-like grip, pinning his arms and legs to him so that it was impossible to move anything from the neck down. The sand constricted and tightened, crushing the man's bones with a series of pleasant snaps and cracks. Blood spurted out of the sand, falling to the ground and staining the sand a rusty brown._

_Gaara released the sand, letting the man's body fall to the ground and lay there._

_"W-who are you? Why?" He tried to swallow the knot in his throat, and he approached the man._

_With a trembling hand, he reached forward an pulled the mask loose so that it revealed the mans identity. As he recognized the assassin as his uncle, his face first showed disbelief then just anguish. He had just been betrayed by the only person who had showed him any sort of compassion. As a child, his emotions were fragile; this was bound to break them._

_He turned his head and addressed Gaara. "You are strong as I expected, Gaara-sama."_

_His hand reached and clenched where, under his skin, his heart beat. He screamed. It was a terrible sound. And his sand flew through the air to him, as if wanting to cease his hurt._

_"Yashamaru!"_

_Tears streamed from his sea-green orbs. His sobs were choked, and sounded as if he was trying to keep them in himself. Grasping his head, he fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. Yashamaru's breaths were shallow and caused him pain as he struggled to get enough air into his crushed lungs. I allowed myself a brief feel of satisfaction._

_"Why. Why? Yashamaru why did you – why? I thought that you were - I thought that you were -" Gaara looked at his uncle, searching for some sort of answer in his eyes._

_"It was an order. I was ordered to kill you, by your father, the kazekage-sama."_

_"Father? Wh-why me?"_

_"You were born with Shakaku of the sand. You were observed like a guinea pig. Since they saw they couldn't control you, they ordered this._

_"So you were only doing this because you didn't have a choice, right?" there was hope in his eyes as he said this statement._

_"No, that's not correct." Gaara's eyes widened fractionally at this. "It's true I received the order from your father, but I could have refused it if I wished. Gaara-sama, deep within my heart I hated you. You took the life of my sister when you were born. I tried to love you by thinking of you as her treasured child. But I couldn't. She became this village's sacrifice. She died cursing this village. She gave you the name Gaara. One who loves only himself. Love only yourself and fight only for yourself. My sister didn't give you that name because she loved you, she gave you that name so you could continue to exist. You were not loved." He pulled open his vest to reveal a bunch of exploding notes. "This is it. Please die."_

_Gaaras did not move as the tags exploded._

Meanwhile, the world blurred again around the edges, then everything went black and I was thrust out of his memories. When I pulled out of his memories I shivered slightly; knowing what had happened in every moment of Gaara's life and looking into one of his most private memories was, in my opinion, to intimate.

I observed my surroundings and realized that neither Temari nor Kankuro were present, they were down in the stadium. They each slung one of Gaara's arms over their shoulders and leapt out of the stadium. Gaara, meanwhile, was unconscious. While I was in his memories I was paying little to no attention to what was happening in the stadium, so I did not know what had happened to cause this new development. All I knew is that the invasion had begun, and they were taking Gaara out of the village. For what reason I did not know. This was not part of their plans.

I cursed silently for my stupidity. I was careless, but I had no time to be sour about that, I had to follow Gaara. For whatever reason I did not know, but I felt that I had to make sure he would survive whatever was going to happen, now that their plan had been thrown off.

The sound had launched their attack. Most of the audience had been put under a genjutsu to make them fall asleep. The Hokage and Kazekage were sitting in higher part of the stadium and could have disspelled the jutsu easily. But the kazekage's scent had disappeared, to be replaced by one I had smelled in the Forest of Death. Orochimaru. So that was who was hiding under that clever little genjutsu. But the Hokage and snake man were not in their seats, they were in the dark purple barrier that was being held up by four sound nins.

Orochimaru was a sannin. Sure Sarutobi was the Hokage, but he had grown old and his body would not be much competition for Orochimaru's. Then I guess it was good that Sarutobi had more than just physical strength. One of them was going to die in this battle. I wanted it to be Orochimaru, but hope is only a false lead half the time. I didn't deal with false leads, I dealt with facts, and the facts told me that Sarutobi did not have a very good chance of winning. Besides, who knew what new jutsu Orochimaru had created after he left the village.

It agitated me slightly; too much was left to chance. Everything that happened from now on out would happen completely randomly. I hissed under my breath and jumped onto the large wall around the stadium to get a better view of the happenings. There was a large amount of ninja fighting, of the battle that had no doubt begun.

The wall around the village had been breached by a giant three-headed snake, probably summoned by at least six nins. There were also nin all over the village, evacuating, fighting, and blowing things up in general. If they kept blowing things up they were going to destroy the city.

The human race, destined to destroy itself from the inside out or to destroy each other. And it was true. Whether it be from a war with an outside force or enemy, or an internal conflict that rips apart the village, as easily as a disease slowly destroying and shutting down organs. But that was what shinobi and politicians or council members were for. There was a difference, though - while politicians and council members sat behind desks, we shinobi killed and died like animals. I refused to be part of that useless fray.

I turned away from the breached village and looked in the direction that Gaara and his siblings had fled. They were heading out the wall. I could still see them heading into the forest.

Without hesitation I took off after them, cutting down any nin who was stupid enough to get in my way, regardless of what village he or she was from. I was careful not to deliver any killing blows to any nin i recognized as being from the leaf village.

"Sarutobi my friend, do not die."

I moved swiftly, wanting to catch up with Temari and Kankuro before the others who had been sent after them did. I was out of the village in less than two minutes and had left quite an impressive number of dead nin in my wake, some of which I would not like to be leaf nin. Not that I cared about them, just that I respected Sarutobi and he wouldn't want me killing off his little lap dogs.

I scaled the wall quickly and jumped into the surrounding forest, following Gaara's scent. Ahead of me were Naruto, Sakura, and a nin dog. Ahead of them was Sasuke, following Gaara. As I passed them I veered a little off course so they wouldn't see me. I jumped from tree to tree lightly and caught up to Gaara and his siblings, in no time. I landed on a branch a few feet in front of them, causing them to stop abruptly, as they did not wish to fall off the branch.

"Move out of the way!" Kankuro shouted.

"Kankuro, you take Gaara ahead, I'll -" I cut her off.

"I do not wish to fight, I'm here to ensure that no harm befalls Gaara," I said slowly, making no moves of advancement. Often when animals were cornered and the thing they viewed as a predator made a move towards them, they ran. I did not want for them to run, no matter how similar to animals they were.

"Hmph, why should we trust you?" I'm sure Kankuro would have crossed his arms if they weren't full with his brother.

"Kankuro, we don't have time. Just let it go, she can follow if she wants."

He made a noise in the back of his throat showing his disapproval, but shifted Gaara into a better position and took off again. I followed. Someone was gaining on us, I didn't know who; I would have to wait until he or she got closer to identify him or her. I stayed behind the group, because if we got attacked it would most likely come from behind.

My assumptions were correct that we would get attacked very soon, but it was not from behind. Kankuro had sensed someone following us and had elected to stay behind. By the small individual movements inside this person's body I guessed Shino, and Sasuke was with him. I don't know what had happened to Kankuro, if he was too weak or there was an ambush, but not 5 minutes later I could hear someone behind us again, and I could smell poison in the air as well. If that weren't his poison, he would surely be dead by now. Stupid boy didn't even detain our real pursuer. The footfalls were the exact same ones that had been behind us a moment ago. I wanted to growl in frustration. I could get Gaara out of here much faster if I was alone - Temari was only slowing me down. She was endangering his life in his condition.

Why I even cared I don't know. It would be his own fault if he died, he let his bloodlust and need to kill Uchiha cloud his judgement. Now here he was in this weakened state, because he pathetically rushed into his transformation into Shukaku. But somehow I felt like I had to protect this young man, really only a boy, from harm. It was as if we were the same, as if I had experienced the same things in life as him. But no, that couldn't be it. In the part of my existence that I could remember, I always played the part of the tormenter, not the tormented. Still, it tugged at the back of my mind and pulled even harder at the back of my subconscious.

I sighed, focusing on the task at hand.

The footfalls were closer; they kept approaching at a faster speed until they were right behind us. Just as I had expected, Sasuke appeared in front of us, halting our progress. I looked at Temari.

"Take Gaara, its my turn to fight him." she didn't look at me, she was already intent on the fight that was going to occur.

I nodded and shifted so I could support all of Gaara's weight. Without one glance back I took off. Sasuke tried to follow, but was cut off by Temari. Behind me I could feel the wind as Temari launched her assault on the Uchiha. Some of the trees around me even got cut in half by her wind blades.

Great - no meeting point, no backup plan, no plan AT ALL. This was a badly planned out escape attempt.

I looked over to the boy I supported. Even unconscious he was wearing a scowl.

This boy, why was I helping him, what could I possibly gain from this? It's not as if I was doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I almost laughed at that. I wonder can a heart still care when it's stopped beating? I supposed not, after all I hadn't cared about anything as long as I can remember, and that was a very long time. Yet I got the feeling that I wasn't a really caring person before I could remember, either.

I felt a fluctuation in Gaara's breathing and glanced over. He was stirring slightly. And not a moment too soon. Sasuke was back, and right behind us. I growled slightly. Completely useless humans, only served as five minute distraction. I looked to Gaara again; he was slowly opening his eyes, revealing his groggy green eyes, still heavy from his first sleep in 13 years.

Realizing where he was, he gruffly pushed me away from him and I complied, moving away before he could actually make contact and push me away himself.

He clutched his head, as if in an effort to suppress his massive head pains. He spotted Sasuke and immediately narrowed his eyes further.

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Review, tell me what you think! It can only get better with constructive reviews or criticisms!


	10. Chapter 10

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**Chapter 10**

"_Outside, among your fellows, among strangers, you must preserve appearances, a hundred thing you cannot do; but inside, the terrible freedom!"_

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It was such a fickle matter. Uchiha just wanted to finish his fight to prove he was stronger, there was no real importance behind it except him wanting to boost his ego. Turning my head slightly, I saw Temari Shushin into view a little behind us, on the opposite side of Gaara. Perfect timing. I handed Gaara over to her.

"Watch him," I said, and then I left back the way I had come. I would not stay for this fight, because I knew what would happen. This battle was pretty much planned out already, Uchiha had not nearly enough power to stop Gaara once he had transformed, which he was going to do quite soon. But Naruto would come and intercept the fight, taking over for sasuke and probably ending the fight in a draw.

I had no need to see this fight. They were fighting a child's fight, no one would really be injured beyond repair. But Sarutobi's and Orochimaru's fight was were my true concerns lay. It would not go well for me if Sarutobi died; he was a man who had given me shelter, and I had yet to repay him. It did not sit well to leave a debt unpaid. What better way then saving his life and possibly his village?

I moved quickly, arriving at the gates soon enough. There were quite a number of sand and sound nin about and fighting. Overpowering and gaining entrance to the village was their objective, I presumed.

They were in my way.

I could easily go around them, but where was the fun in that? I moved into the fray as slowly as I felt was necessary. A sound nin came at me, swinging at my head. I ducked under his arm, driving my own kunai into his heart. Another came at me from behind, trying to get me in the back. What a nasty little trick. I turned, dodging his plunge, and appeared behind him, driving my kunai into his back. I was a big fan of nasty little tricks.

More came at me as I moved along my way. I killed many sand and sound nin, enjoying the feel of my kunai splitting open the flesh of all those who fell victim. Soon I had a small, yet slightly manic grin on my face as I proceeded.

Despite the circumstances, I was having more fun that I had had in years. It was not every day there was a war.

I made it to the stadium quickly, and saw that Gai and Kakashi had finished off a lot of opponents, and the other random shinobi had taken care of most the others. I moved to go up to where the purple barrier still stood, but felt that was someone trying to sneak up on me. I struck out with my left hand, barley moving and inch, and slit the woman's throat. I watched as blood flowed out fast, staining her suna jounin vest and the ends if her hair that rested on her shoulders. All traces of manic pleasure were gone, as I was now focused on the task at hand.

I left, leaving the dying woman to crumple and fall. I made it up to the top of the building in time to see an ANBU run at the barrier and get reflected, dead and smoldering.

"_Well, that's one way to test the barrier."_ Or you could just think logically. Then something clicked in my head. Did the barrier continue on under the roof? If not, there was a possible point of entry there.

I left the ANBU to themselves as I jumped down on the balcony where the Hokage and Orochimaru were previously sitting. I entered the building and moved upwards until I was directly under the roof. As I suspected, there was no trace of the barrier. I couldn't be so sure though, so I sensed for any amount of hidden chakra. There was none. Wasting no time, I made the hand signs for a jutsu.

_**'Earth style: tsuchiheki no jutsu,**_' I murmured quietly in my mind, pressing my hands against the ceiling, splitting it effectively.

Jumping through the newly made hole, I found that I had indeed made it inside the barrier. Orochimaru and Sarutobi were a couple hundred yards from me. Orochimaru jumped a distance away, and I could feel him gathering a huge amount of chakra. Three coffins were rising out of the ground, I saw a third but it was stopped by Sarutobi. They contained the bodies of the first two Hokages.

I hissed. They reeked of death and decay, yet their bodies look perfectly preserved. This man, Orochimaru. I wanted him dead then and there. He had no right to bring dead things back to life so he could use them as toys in his sick little game.

Things that are meant to be dead should stay dead.

I didn't really want to get involved in this fight, but yet I couldn't bear to stay watching on the sidelines like a stupid helpless human. Sarutobi might have been able to keep up with one of the Hokages, but two was just too much.

One of the Kages did an Earth jutsu, causing trees to rise up from the roof.

It presented the perfect opportunity. Trees cast shadow. I pulled most of the shadows around the kages into my control and stuck them to their feet, slowing them down considerably. Whenever they moved it took extra effort to lift any of their limbs, because my shadows were attached from everywhere. This was all I could do for him.

The fight was at a stand still, for the most part. Sarutobi had a sword sticking out of his back and Orochimaru was having his soul dragged out.

It was quite ironic; many people would have said that Orochimaru was so evil he didn't even have a soul. But the only things that didn't have a soul were the dead, and the undead. Souls defined a person, so instead of saying he had no soul they could have possibly said he had a very nasty soul.

Sarutobi was pushing himself way past his limits to complete this jutsu and to take Orochimaru to the grave with him. It was unfortunate that Sarutobi had to die. But at least he will die in a noble way. Nobility was looked upon highly by humans.

I cursed mentally. Sarutobi didn't have enough chakra left to finish the jutsu, he only had enough to get maybe his arms off, to ensure he couldn't do jutsu anymore. I added more pressure to my shadow, which I had attached to Orochimaru without his notice. The pressure of my shadows and the Hokage's grip made it impossible to pull away.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's eyes widened considerably. I could only assume he was seeing the death god. To see death face to face, what feelings it must stir into the soul of a mortal. His body grew even more rigid, making my job and Sarutobi's a lot easier. Orochimaru was starting to panic. To me, it seemed as if he was being presented a wonderful opportunity, to be able to see death, then escape it by mere inches.

Oh yes, he would escape death I had no doubt, but not before leaving some very personal items behind. Said items were currently being gripped by the Shinigami. From his mouth, he produced a knife. On the face of what many would consider the devil himself there was a content grin, as if he was happy to gain one whole soul and part of another.

Suddenly Sarutobi gasped. He was dying. He smiled slightly, looking at Orochimaru then glancing once in my direction before looking back at Orochimaru.

He fell. Orochimaru screamed in anger, his useless arms hanging limply at his sides. Around me I felt the barrier lower and the sound nins jump over to Orochimaru, pulling him up, then jumping away once again.

I had released my shadow awhile ago but I was still in the same position. I let my arms fall to my sides and stared at Sarutobi's body. He was dead, no doubt about it. And now even if a sort of heaven did exist, he would not be going, because he had sacrificed his soul for a few humans.

Why?

What difference would it have made if they were dead? None. It would have an impact on the neighboring countries for a little while, but no damage that would last for all of eternity. The world would still revolve around the sun. The ground would not split and swallow up everything. No, it would continue. So why? I could not understand what he had been willing to sacrifice himself for so readily. It was out of my comprehension.

He was human, wasn't he? Don't they only think of themselves? They're animals, they thrive on basic instincts. Basic instincts that told them to run and save themselves in time of danger. Why? Why didn't he run and save himself? He was human, damnit. They are predictable creatures. So why did he have to go and do something so unpredictable?

_They are my precious people._

He had said that, hadn't he? Only just before he died during his fight. What did it mean? How can they be precious to him? He didn't even know every villager personally. He couldn't have cared for these scum, the vile humans that inhabited this village. He had seen what they could do. Naruto was a good example; even seemingly good people could turn on an dime and become any number of disgusting things. You don't feel that a beast or wild animal is precious to you. No -- your feel fear, hatred, and contempt, then wipe out its existence.

"_I care for each of these people, I love them like family." _

Love? Family?

They meant nothing to me. Only words.

Love was an emotion I was sure I had never felt, so it was foreign to me. I suppose it meant to care for someone more than anything else. If that is what it meant, then love was meaningless. Everyone cared for someone more than another. Sot it lost all its value, especially when Sarutobi said he loved every one of these people. If he loves everyone, what does that say about their value?

Family. I had never known my family for as long as I could remember. But I somehow knew a family wasn't as glamorous as some people liked to think. Family was only the two people who had contributed to your birth, and maybe some others they had before or after you. Nothing more; other than that you had no real ties or obligations to them. It was natural to live with them until you were old enough to be on your own. So I supposed you owed them something for taking care of you. A debt to be repaid, most people would feel a bit of contempt at that.

All this was even truer if you were a ninja. Shinobi were not supposed to show their emotions. They would get in the way during a battle. They would cloud your judgement. They made you weak. So what was the point of having the emotion, or the love or a family?

_"Emotions make you weak. Emotions are for the weak. If you want to survive, you must stamp down your emotions." A man's imposing voice said roughly._

_"Yes father," said a small child's voice, already void of emotion._

I vaguely remember those voices. But it was muddled, like a long forgotten dream that I had had years ago.

They had come and taken his body, each with a look of respect and despair on their faces. The funeral would take place the next day. None of them wanted to delay giving their respects to their third Hokage.

I would stay for the funeral; I would give my respects for the man, because he deserved it.

The funeral was in no sense small. It was a sad setting. Everyone was dressed in black. Black was a depressing color, it represented death. To me it was the least practical color to wear to a funeral. Why make yourself more depressed than you already were?

A few kind words were said. How great a ninja he was. A list of things he had done that were considered great. All of it was completely pointless. He would not care how he was praised when he was dead. Funerals left the lingering sadness, another emotion that I'm sure no one wanted to remember.

I'm sure none of them needed to be reminded that he had died for this village, and he had done a great number of things by human standards.

To me, funerals seemed pointless. Once the person was dead, there was nothing left to do than bury them in the ground. There was no need to have all this. They wouldn't see it, or really even care what people did after they were dead. They were dead. I had been to many funerals.

When I was still a young vampire I used watch the funeral of each of my victims.

The coffins made simply out of wood planks, put together in a hurry. Inside that coffin was an already rotting corpse. In the dirt below were scores of worms and insect waiting to devour that corpse. They would eat their way inside the body and devour it slowly. Crawling in and out of the eyes and chew away the flesh, laying their eggs to ferment and hatch, only to feed off the body.

I saw them the mourners, carrying the coffins on their backs. They walked through their small desolate graveyards. Tears are muffled by hands. Husbands and friends comfort the family. The older headstones, atop graves around them, are crumbling. They're all dead now. All those mourners, all that was left of them now was bits of dust and nothing.

These people would become bits of dust and nothing soon, too. I turned and left.

I hated funerals.

I couldn't bring myself to go to Suna. Did I really want to go there? Nothing waited for me there. But whenever I told myself that, I thought of Gaara. He was there, wasn't he? It didn't matter, he meant nothing to me.

After about a week I finalley decided to go to Suna. I would want to make it there fast. I only brought a couple things with me. I stood by a small stream at the edge of the forest leading off into the desert. Wrapping my shadows around my self and blending them into my skin to keep the sun from touching it, I moved out of the trees and took off into the long barren sand pit in front of me.

As I approached, I saw that Suna looked exactly the same as it had when I had left. The only entrance, a long gap in between two high stone walls, made the village seem invulnerable. Of course, there were nins hiding in the shadows and the ledges of the stone walls. I didn't want to alert anyone to my presence yet, so I moved into the shadows and concealed myself, hiding my chakra as well.

Once I had slipped into the village, I made my way toward the large official-looking building where I assumed all the Suna council and past Kazekage lived. If I was going to stay in this city, I would have to talk to the council first. I highly doubted they would be welcoming in my stay here. They had no real power to stop me, it would just make things run more smoothly if I got their approval.

I walked into the building, following a scent I remembered well. I came to a door and entered without knocking.

It was a round room with a circular table in the middle. Around it sat Suna's council.

"Who are you?" one of them asked, a man who looked thoroughly annoyed that I had interrupted their meeting.

"Zetsumi Amai." I said, waiting for them to make connections themselves. I was sure that news that I had killed numerous sand nins had reached home by now.

"Zetsumi, Amai…" another man said, rolling the name around on his tongue, trying to remember just who I was. Another couple of people pulled out files that were sitting on their desks to check if there was any information about my coming to Suna. After a few moments their faces darkened.

"You were in Konohagakure up until recently, yes?"

"I was," I said, sitting in one of the empty seats at the head of the table that I suspected belonged to the kazekage. They scowled more darkly at that.

"What business is it that you have here?"

"There is certain information that I need to collect for... personal reasons. And it would be more convenient for me to stay here during that time." I said.

"What information?"

"Do you always pry into what people call their personal information? I do believe I said it was personal, in hopes you would understand normal courtesy and not ask what I had referred to by personal information." Hmm… what would happen now? Maybe they would get mad and attack me. It would give me a good excuse to kill them, I supposed. But then again, I never really needed an excuse to kill before; it was just a natural function.

But no. They all just made similar scowls and shuffled through their papers, occasionally calling for underlings to fetch different documents, some of which were old, yellow, and ripped in some places.

"And under what circumstance did you believe we would let you stay here?"

"Well as you probably were informed, I was transferred to Suna shortly before the Hokage passed. If you did not know this information then your communications are lacking, and I'm severely disappointed."

"We were aware" They were starting to lose their tempers now.

"Well then, it would be easier on yourselves to let me stay of your own will. Because either way I will be in the village, whether it's by your consent or not." I was getting tired of talking to these humans. Too many words were being wasted on them.

"You killed Sand nins. Our shinobi! What makes you think you're welcome in this village!?" One woman lost her temper and yelled at me shrilly.

Her point of view should be completely unbiased. If she were looking at this at a strategic point of view instead of an emotional one, this could be very benefiting towards Suna.

"I'm not naive enough to believe that I am welcome in this village. I haven't been welcomed here for at least 100 years. But welcome or not, I would be beneficial towards your village. I will do missions and fight for Sunakagure when I feel the need. All I ask for in return is a place to stay in my time here, and to received normal shinobi wages for the missions that I do." It was a fair trade I supposed; I offer my services for a short amount of time, they pay me and I gather my information. When I'm finished with my business I might even kill them on my way out of town.

They sat in silence for a few moments occasionalley leaning over and whispering to each other. Finalley they spoke.

"Will you please leave the room for a few moments?"

I got up and left without a moment's hesitation. Whatever they were discussing would be long and tedious. Now most of them did not want me to stay, and wished my execution. They would most likely keep me around though, they were hoping I could be another tool like Gaara. The idea was actually amusing, to some extent. They could not even control Gaara, there were a countless number of deaths by his hand. What chance did they have controlling me?. Animals weren't meant to be the masters. They served better as pets.

On the other side of the door I could hear the council members' discussion.

"Now to begin the discussion concerning Amai, who for all intents and purposes of this meeting will be tagged 'the subject'. The council is now open for debate."

"I think we could use her. She would become a very useful addition to our forces. After the failed attack on Konoha, other nations will think our village has fallen weak. It is true, though, that if an enemy nation decided to attack we would have trouble fending them off. It would do well to have another weapon in our arsenal if that time ever came."

"She does have her attributes. If we found a way to control her, it would indeed bode well for Suna. From several sources we have gathered that she is highly skilled at taijutsu, and is assumed to be just as well skilled in genjuntsu and ninjutsu."

"Assumed? What exactly do you mean by assumed?"

"She has not been seen using any form of jutsu, and seemingly prefers hand to hand combat."

"And I assume her skills were observed during the chunin exams?"

"Yes. Or more specifically, the attack on Konoha."

"That attack on Konoha was a mistake. We had no idea that it was Orochimaru in disguise who ordered us to attack."

"That is not the point."

A voice of an older man spoke. "The point is whether to integrate her into the rank of our shinobi or not."

"Absolutely not." It was a woman who spoke this time. "We cannot control her. She is more dangerous than Gaara. At least he can be controlled to some extent."

"You call the countless lives lost to him controlled?"

"I agree. But this is not about Gaara. There is a old file concerning a girl named the subject. This file dates back over a hundred years"

"What has this to do with the subject we are currently discussing?"

"In the files it describes the girl with the exact same characteristics." There was a shuffel of paper, then he spoke again. "Hair color: silver, eye color: gold, age: unknown? There is even a name, Amai, but no last name."

"We see your point, but this could be referring to a lot of different people; that file is over a hundred years old. It could be anyone. We do not have much information about that far back."

"Yes, but even a hundred years ago silver hair and gold eyes were unheard of. And the age is unknown? It could mean a number of things."

"Yes, it could mean a number of things. Which is why we cannot jump to conclusions."

"What do you suppose this means, Kendai-san?"

"I do not know for sure, Mayarui-sama (A/n I'm just making up names). But I have theories that I will be researching to a greater extent."

"If I could speak. I believe we should consult with the elders. Chiyo-sama and her brother Ebizo.

"Of course the elders will have to be consulted. They are far older and wiser than most of us. They may know something we do not about the subject."

"Then it is decided?" there was a moments pause as every one nodded their agreement or disagreement, I assumed. "Good, then for the time being the subject in question will be told what she needs to know."

"Which is what exactly?"

"She will be told she is up for consideration and will be staying at a local home of one of our shinobi. She will also be told that the shinobi will be keeping watch on her until we reach our conclusion."

"And which shinobi is this?"

"Sabaku no Gaara. Even though he is indeed dangerous, his residence is the most heavily guarded and watched. It is a perfect place for her."

"We should also put her under constant surveillance. There should be one at least one, if not two Jounin watching her at all times"

"But will she notice these jounin. We do not know her full level of skill, and are going off what old files say of another person entirely."

"These are Jounin. They will be some of our highest ranked ninja, just below the elite. We must be sure to pick ones that have good enough skill in stealth and excellent skills in tiajustsu, as that is all we know about the subject were discussing. But we should also make sure they are adequate in other areas as well."

"Very well. The subject will stay at the residence of Subaku no Gaara and will be heavily monitored by elite Jounin. She will be told she is up for consideration. During that time we will seek advice from the elders. Is there anything anyone wold wish to add to this?"

There was a murmur of agreement and a few more things were discussed and debated for another ten minutes. Most of it was pointless precautionary measures to restrict my movements throughout the village.

"Very well, if every one is agreed on the terms, we may call the subject in question back in." A scrape of a chair was heard, and a few seconds later the door opened and a strict looking man poked his head out.

"Your presence is now required by the council." He stepped back and opened the door fully to allow me to enter.

_'Funny, it's almost like they are summoning me.'_ I sighed, as I had no real reason to object, I rose and entered the doorway. Electing to stand this time, I walked over to the table and awaited to be informed of the information that I know they had decided to tell me.

"Zetsumi Amai, it has been decided that you will be residing in the house of Subaku no Gaara, as we are not so sure you would be welcomed into any random home of a stranger. As for you joining our shinobi, we will need more time to come to a decision, and until we do come to a conclusion you will be up for consideration. Are there any questions?"

"None. But I must say that I am perfectly capable of taking up residence somewhere by myself, and see no need to inconvenience Subaku no Gaara and his siblings."

"It does not matter if you are a inconvenience to that boy," he spoke the word ruefully. "All that matters is that we have kindly given you a residence in which to stay."

"If you put it that way, it seems as if it is impossible to refuse. Has he been informed of this yet?"

"No, you may inform him yourself when you arrive. I have had my assistant write up a letter that you may deliver to Gaara when you arrive. It explains the situation."

"I see. Well then, as it has been decided, I will take my leave. I'm sure I will be able to find the house without assistance." the man was about to assign a nin to escort me when I cut him off.

"Of course. Well, since this has all been sorted out, you can return in a few days and we will inform you of our verdict."


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"_The truth is forced upon us, very quickly, by a foe."_

* * *

It was easy enough to find my way through the labyrinth of streets, and identify which home out of the identical others belonged to Gaara. The buildings and houses were all made out of smooth stone that looked blue in the moonlight. The world around me was blue, caused by the moonlight reflecting off the sands and stone.

Making my way through the alleys and streets, I relied mostly on scent to lead me. Stopping in front of one building in particular, I raised my hand and knocked on the door. It took all of five minutes for someone to answer it. It was a bit rude to leave a person standing out in the cold while you were to lazy answer the door. But that was beside the point.

Standing there with his mouth agape was Kankuro. I suppose it would come as a shock to him, seeing as he didn't expect to ever see me again and he wasn't particularly fond of me.

"Wha… What are you doing here?" He finally managed to choke out.

In response, I held out the letter that I had received from the council. He looked at it for a second before grabbing it shockingly. It took him about five more minutes to read the letter. I had no idea how long it was or what is said, as I did not particularly care. As he read I waited, trying not to show my impatience. When he was finished he stared at the sheet and flipped it over, as if expecting to find more writing on the back.

Finally he shook out of it. "Temari!" he yelled, twisting his head slightly so he could call over his shoulder and keep me in the side of his vision.

"What, you baka?!" Yelled a particular blond as she marched into view, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw me.

She paused for a second, confusion etched in her mind. She soon roused herself and approached the door.

"Um… Hey, Amai, what are you doing here?" I didn't respond because Kankuro had shoved the letter under her nose, and she proceeded to read said letter. Her eyebrow furrowed as she tried to comprehend what the letter was telling her.

After a moment she finished the letter and looked at me, still confused.

"Umm…. Would you like to come in?" she asked, trying to be polite even though she did not really want me in her home.

"Thank you," I said. At least one of these humans had some manners.

After removing my sandals and placing them by the door, I followed Temari into their sitting room with Kankuro following behind. He wanted to have me watched in case I tried anything. It was slightly insulting; I was not a common criminal who would steal all their possessions when their backs were turned, or kill both of them. And what's more, he thought I wouldn't notice. If I had felt any inclination I would have sighed angrily, but I kept my composure; it was not well to lose your temper over a trivial matter such as that.

Sitting on the opposite side of the little table, I waited for one of them to decide on which question they would ask me first; they were full of questions. But no, we sat in silence as they tried to get their brains to form a sentence or question to fill the air, and break the ice that had settled across the room. They looked very uncomfortable with the silence, while I on the other hand was perfectly at ease.

"How long will you be staying?" Temari asked finally

"Until I have what I wish to acquire," I said in monotone.

"And what is that?" asked Kankuro, leaning forward eagerly.

"Something I have no wish to discuss with you." I said, shooting him a look which sealed his lips from forming any more words on the subject.

"So when do you find out if you're being accepted into our ninja ranks?" Temari asked, trying to soothe the tense silence that was falling, thanks mostly to Kankuro, who was fidgeting.

"Hm? I suppose you got that bit of information from the letter. I will return to the council in a few days time to figure out the conclusion of their debates." I responded.

"I haven't really ever heard of them having to consult before appointing someone a ninja. I mean, yeah, they talk for a couple minutes, then test your level of skill; of course you have to answer questions, but that's about it." said Temari. "Maybe they think you're a protégé," she added with a strained laugh.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. That word. I hated it. It was a feeling that I couldn't shake, like little bugs getting under my skin. A protégé. There was no such thing.

"I'm sure," I said rather dryly.

The room grew silent once again.

"Well, since you'll be staying here, I guess I'll show you your room." she said, getting up.

I followed her down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. Their home was not lavishly decorated, as I would have suspected of the late Kazekage's offspring. We passed a few doors and stopped at one. Temari opened the door.

"Here, this will be your room. It's the best guest room we have. We used to have messengers from other villages stay here all the time, but I guess that won't happen anymore." Her tone grew quiet. She was saddened by the death of her father. I stayed silent and observed the room.

It was a decent size, more room than I really needed. In one corner there was a big bed with silky black sheets. The carpeting was a tinted red. There was also a large desk with a mirror. On another corner of the room, there was a large wardrobe. Around the rest of the room were pieces of art and other decorations. I didn't really see the need for any of it. It was just something pretty to look at, an inanimate object. It was not needed, and a waste.

Temari was standing nervously by the door, wondering if I found anything wrong with the room.

"Is this okay for you?"

"It's fine, thank you. Would you mind showing me the rest of your home?" I asked. It would be wise to get to know my surroundings if I was to be staying here.

" .. oh! Yes. Follow me." she said, walking back down the hall we had come. "My room is just two down from yours, so if you need anything I'm next door. That's Kankuro's room," she pointed to a room on the left. "And straight down the hall on the end is Gaara's room, but I wouldn't go in there if I was you."

I was shown the dining room, the kitchen (which was in a horrific mess), and the living room where I assumed they spent most of their time when not on missions, their smell was everywhere. There were other rooms that I wasn't shown into, I could rightfully assume that they had belonged to the late Kazekage. Their home was full of expensive things that made it look more like a museum than a home. Needless really, all of it.

After showing me around and making sure I knew where all the bathrooms were, Temari left me to get 'settled in' as she phrased it. Returning to my room, I looked around. The room was much too crowded. Much like the world today, every thing that it was crowded with, the room and the world, everything was dispensable. Seeing as it was a waste to just throw their stuff away, I sealed all of the art and unnecessary things into a scroll, tucking it into my pouch. Sealing was an art that I had taken the time to learn because it made traveling more convenient, but it was almost not worth the amount of chakra it took up.

After I had finished my renovations to my temporary residence, I went to scout out the town. It had been a while since I had last been here. While my memory of this place was perfect, it still did no harm to make sure I had not forgotten anything.

It was well after dark, so no one was about and shops were closed. It was just as well -- the smell of all those humans would just make my self-appointed task harder.

I walked quietly, not wanting to disturb the quiet that had settled over the town which had been so loud a few hours ago. Quiet was always comforting. Only when all was still and quiet was one truly alone.

But I was never really alone. As much as I distanced my self from every one, I was never alone. They were always there. Their filthy thoughts always reaching me. Always irritating me. Never could I have a moment alone to myself. Humans. They where every where. No matter where I went, they were there.

Even walking down that deserted street I could hear them.

I slowed my footsteps. Something was watching me, and had known I spotted them. Whoever they were they were highly skilled, to be able to hide their presence from me. I knew that they had only just decided to let me sense them.

There was something off about this being. Whatever it was, it was distinctly not human. It had the almost the same scent as Gaara, and me. But it was not a jinchuuriki. It had a distinct odor of flesh, and I could detect no beating of a heart.

I almost stopped in my tracks.

Before I knew it I was running, trying desperately to reach the source of the intense presence.

Ducking through alleyways and down streets, over walls. I was getting closer. They were waiting for me to catch up, I could feel it.

They were here.

I could feel them.

Just at the end of the alley. There was blood seeping from the wound on his neck. It was human. Already dead, killed just moments before my arrival. Bending over him I felt that his skin was still warm, as was the blood dripping from the neck wounds not yet coagulated.

I straightened myself and scanned the area. No one. Whoever it was was long gone. Fled.

They had been playing with me.

I had deserted my scout of the city. I had more interesting things to ponder. Who was that man? I knew it was a man because, even though he walked lightly, there was still a difference in the weight of his footsteps; females weighed less than the average man. But his footsteps had been light and precise, humans couldn't move like that. But the one thing I knew for sure was that this man wasn't human.

If I were to jump to conclusions I would say that he was a vampire like me, another one of my kind. That would be the obvious guess. But I hadn't seen another of my kind for 300 years. I had figured they all went into hiding or died off. They had never been there before. Why now, why did they chose to show themselves now?

I had the same feeling I had in that alley since I got here. Being in such close proximity with one of my kind just intensified it. Usually I could feel the presences of humans, their heartbeats or life force, whatever you called it. But tonight there was no life in that thing, just the life force of others us vampire scrounge off of to survive. He reeked of death, his whole presence. It felt unnatural, like it did not belong.

I did not go back to Gaara's until minutes before the sun rose. I did not belong in the sun. Climbing in through the bedroom window, I decided upon venturing downstairs to see Gaara. He was in the house and, I was sure, very aware of my presence. It was hard not to miss his scent, but I for once wished I had normal human senses so I could just ignore him and remain ignorant to his presence.

I made my way down to the kitchen where he was. It would not do to seem as if I was avoiding him, not proper manners. Yes, proper manners mattered a lot in human society, yet most chose to ignore them. _"But we who are better must hold ourselves above those who are lesser." _I shook me head slightly to rid myself of the plaguing voice that sounded so familiar. Yet it had a point. I was better than these rats and would hold myself above their level.

Entering the kitchen, I seated myself across from Gaara. Why I was there was simple enough. There was nothing open at five am, nothing I needed at least. So there I was. He stared at me for a second, taking in my presence. His eyes were different. Not full of rage. Bitterness was still there, as was remorse. These accursed villagers should be the ones at his feet with remorse. Weakness, hurt, and years of pain, but also remorse.

I almost scoffed. To give in, what a cowardly act. What would backing down like a whipped puppy do? He would lose his spine and become another worthless human. Not one who piqued my personal interest. They had treated him as trash when they were the ones below him. It was not fitting of the dogs.

He knew. He knew what a worthless waste they were. But he backed down? A waste of a person of his perspective.

I was fully aware I was glaring now. While I had full control of my emotions, I couldn't help but glare. But what did glaring do? Nothing. I let my expression melt back to neutral as I straightened my back in the chair. I was not allowed to slump, it was unbecoming.

Speaking for the first time I said, "Konichiwa, Gaara-san." Manners could sometime be a hassle.

He stiffly nodded back at me. Even though he had had an apparent change of heart, he still held me in low regards. He glared at me, obviously trying not to unleash his sand in a vicious onslaught against me. I could hear it rattling around inside is gourd, as if it were anxious. It must have taken a great deal of restraint not to attack everyone that annoyed him, as it had only been a short while after the chunin exams.

It also took a great deal of restraint on my part not to jump him and drain him of his oh-so-tantalizing blood. That was one of my reasons for forcing myself to be in his presence. I would eventually grow accustomed to him, and then he could return to being just another insignificance.

Temari came down stairs a short while later. Upon entering the kitchen she stopped in her tracks. She had obviously not been expecting Gaara and me to be in the same room. She looked swiftly at each of us, and seeing we weren't attacking each other, gave out a long held sigh.

"Good morning Gaara, Amai." She said in a shakily light voice.

I nodded back at her, as did Gaara. She walked over to a stovetop, and began taking out the ingredients for breakfast. As she was preparing breakfast, I assumed that they didn't have maid or cook. It was a bit unexpected, as this had been the house of the former Kazekage. It would be expected that the have some servants, as they were higher up on the social ladder than most common citizens.

The smells of cooking food soon filled the air. The fat on the dead hunk of pig, also called bacon, sizzled noisily in the air. In a separate frying pan there was also eggs being cooked, along with plenty of other dishes. There was rice balls and classic food that was not laced with fat or grease.

Upstairs there was a movement from Kankuro's room, and he came toppling down the stairs toward the smell of food.

I excused myself, as I had no need at eat. The places I needed to go should be open by now.

Once again having my shadows wrapped around me, I set out towards the large library.

I spent half my day there, looking through books about vampire myths. There was not anything really substantial, only the usual misconception, garlic, crosses and such. I also went though old newspapers and checked for any unresolved murders, which incidentally there were a lot of. There were also a lot of disappearances in such no body was found. That was not highly unusual, but to me it should be considered with great caution. There was also one such occasion where a man in his twenties had been reported missing, only to show up a few weeks later and murder everyone in his family. It was said he had just been crazy and delusional, as they could get no information out of him in interrogation, which he later escaped.

Leaving the library later, I had not gained much. I could not get access to the shinobi files until I had been entered as a shinobi of Suna, which I would not be for a week's time. From there, I would be able to have access to the files not accessible to the general public. Those files would be in greater detail, and the truth less diluted.

The rest of my day was spent walking the streets, using genjutsu to mask my appearance. On the streets I could gather some gossip, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. As it was midday, many people were about, mostly women out grocery shopping. A few children ran about the streets, some alone, some running around their mothers' skirts. Children were so innocent. It was an ignorant innocence, but still.

Walking down the street, I did not hear much of anything that was useful, just the usual dribble that accompanied middle-aged woman. It did no good. I would just have to wait until the few days were over and I would have all the access I wanted. I would wait, but bitterly. It was a waste of my time.

Returning to my assigned household I found it empty. This was not so strange, as I had not expected Gaara to hang around and Temari and Kankuro were both shinobi, and were likely assigned missions.

I did not exit my room when Temari knocked on the door and told me dinner was done. What was the point of going thorough the façade of eating? Even if I didn't eat, they would probably assume I ate out.

I had picked up a book at the library and was intent on finishing it before the night was through. It was an old text of Suna's history; it was laying shelved and forgotten in an old corner of the library. The cover was worn, and you cold barely tell that there had once been a title set upon the it. The pages were yellow with age, and it was hand written.

I had been born before this particular text had been written, but it still would serve its purpose. It had information that most of the history books in the library left out.

_Sunagakure, or as it is also known, Suna no Kuni, is one of the great Ninja villages alongside Konoha, Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo. These are the 5 great Shinobi villages. They each hold great strength as governing forces. Each has a Kage, or Shadows, as they are sometimes called. Together they are called The Five Shadows by ninja everywhere. They are the ultimate commanders to thousands of all the shinobi though out the world. Our Kage, the praised first Kazekage, is known as the wind shadow, as we the people of Sunagakure reside in the Land of wind. _

_The name Kazekage means Wind shadow. It is suitably called that, as the land of sand is also know as the land of wind. Some of our Ninjutsu are wind-based attacks that originate from the land of Suna or the land of wind. The names of the other Kages are also respectable to their countries or homelands. The Kazekage is our protector, our leader, part of our family._

_The Land of Sand is the most vast of the five great countries. Most of our land is desert, but we have adapted to the desert life, by learning from numerous scholars and shinobi how to survive the harsh wilderness of the desert._

The passage went on from there to describe the geographical layout of Suna, and the Wind country. I read over it, seeing as there could have been new town that sprung up since I had last researched the layout of the land. It was nothing crucial to my needs, but more so my personal interest.

Skimming through the chapters, I found the one I needed. It had, in detail, the information about the various clans that had made up Suna in the past, and the various clans that had resided in the Land of wind before Sunagakure came to be.

I had extensive knowledge of most of the clans. Their makeup, who the clan heads had been, their locations, their clan rules that dictated their daily lives. And yet, I had no memory of ever studying any of the mentioned clans. I knew almost everything there was to mention about the clans,all(you don't need this word) large and small.

_For example, the Kenhana clan. They had originally been of the Land of Grass, but had migrated here around 700 years ago. They started as a small group of family members, slowly branching out to become one of the Wind Country's most formidable clans. They specialized in Grass style techniques. Since they had originated from Grass country, their techniques have been handed down from generation to generation. They were the only clan in Wind that used Grass techniques. They also used basic kunai and shuriken, but specialized in the use of the sword. They were masters of kenjutsu, that making them a formidable opponent alone. _

Around 400 years ago, as this book was referring to, there had been about ten main clans. Among the strongest was the clan called the Soudai. Curiously enough, I knew nothing about this particular clan.

_The Soudai were a proud group of people who only married inside their clan, to keep their blood as pure as possible. They believed that if one were to marry outside of their clan it would be a big disgrace. And if on the rare occasion that one did such a thing, they were either beheaded or banished from the wind country, or were killed by the Soudai on sight._

_They were a close-knit group. They preferred to live in seclusion.(this sentence would make more sense if you put it at the end of the paragraph, you should move it) They of course lived in one of the largest villages, which they had large amounts of influence over. They kept to themselves mostly, running the village from inside of their walls and rarely interacting with the poorer people of the village._

_The Soudai specialized in Shadow techniques, making them formidable foes. Yet it was against their beliefs to use the shadows. It was only permitted on rare occasions, such as on their coming of age ceremony when they were required to show their skills and their skill with the shadows. Not much is known about their techniques, as they were closely guarded._

_They were also proficient in all types of weaponry, another requirement. They took on many assassinations for pay, and preferred to kill quickly, making senbon their preferred choice. They also worked well with katanas, kunai, and other manners of weapon._

_I read the rest of the passage quickly. After finishing I put the book down. It was interesting that out of all the other passages in that book, it seemed that the one about the Soudai was the only one I knew nothing of. Looking out the window, the sun was low in the sky. It was around seven o' clock; the sun would set completeley in a few minutes._

_There was nothing more I would be able to do until the morning. I skimmed over the last few chapters of the book in case I had missed something. I hadn't. That was all there was. Nothing exept a few meaningless scibbles about some random clan. It had nothing to do with me, except the not so rare occurrence of me not knowing about it. This was common in humans, so I should not have been so surprised._

_Putting the book aside, I sank to the floor slowly. The frustration was getting to me. I needed some time to think, to find out what I would do next. The library heeded no information. My only choice was to wait until I became a shinobi of Suna, it would prove less complicated than if I stole the information._

So much trouble for so little info. All I had wanted to know was who I was, no real problem, right? But it was -- that I remembered nothing of myself and was forced to go to these squandering tactics was frustrating.

I had been thinking for a while of my origins. I had never really cared for them before, but I was, I admit, curious. Since before Sarutobi transferred me to Suna for the purpose of discovering my real identity, I had been thinking of it. I remembered nothing. That by itself was a curious fact. It contained numerous possibilities. I would not allow my mind to run away and imagine absurd fantasies, but it was still curious all the same.

Meditating was an art I learned when the pain of thousands of thoughts pouring into my head all at once became too unbearable. Traveling alone and moving constantly did not provide much opportunity for practice. I had practiced during the day in a secluded wood, or empty part of a village at night. The daytime was much worse than the night. Humans were awake then, thinking. It was much more of a challenge. Practicing during the day was more practical than at night, much more of a challenge.

The main objective was to empty your mind of all thoughts, regulate your breathing, and block out the outside world. But for me, it was much more complicated. I had to empty my mind, regulate my breathing, block out the outside world and filter the human's thoughts away.

As I had decided that I needed to clear my mind, I sat, crossing my legs into an upright position. Closing my eyes slowly, I took a deep breath. Since I would not focus on my heartbeat (as I had none), I focused on my breathing.

If another person sat still and silent, they would tell you it was so silent that a pin could be heard if it were dropped. But that was a lie, there was noise everywhere. Through the walls I could hear Temari and Kankuro speaking loudly about something irrelevant, I could also hear the pattern of their heartbeat, the small shuffle of their feet on the floor. Outside the house I could hear all the desert animals that lied in the numerous alleyways emerge as the sun sank in the sky. I was aware of every human within a five-mile radius. The air vibrated with it. The little things, like the refrigerator's hum, the gentle breeze just outside the window, everything.

When I meditated I could almost look into my own mind. Now, as I said, I had a very good understanding of my mind. But there was always something that had been there. I usually paid it no heed, but now it was unusually persistent, spurred on by the new information. I did not know what it was, but I knew it was important.

Awhile later I left my room, intending to go out, as the sun had gone down. As I neared the top of the stairs, Temari caught sight of me. She looked nervous, but was doing her best to hide it.

Keeping check over her emotions and managing to maintain her semi-cocky attitude, she spoke. "Ah, Amai, hi. Are you hungry?"

I shook my head no. She looked up to catch my shake of the head, making eye contact briefly.

Ah, so that was it. Very interesting. I had not doubts they would try something against me, but not this far. It was very bold. The council was quite stupid to believe they could get rid of me so easily. That was a mistake. I was far above their skill levels. I vaguely wondered what they would do if I simply killed their so-called assassins? Would they place me under arrest, or continue on as if nothing had happened?

"Hello Temari. Kankuro." I nodded in each of their directions. "You know, I just had the weirdest feeling, as if something bad were going to happen. Call it intuition. I'm sure you know that feeling, being shinobi and all. But I brushed it off -- after all, I can handle a few dangers. And if it were any unlucky shinobi, I would make sure he never made the mistake twice" I gave them a half smile that made them both cringe. My little speech had unsettled them, as it was meant to. If they were nervous, it would make my job of killing them easier, when they attacked.

Sending the sand siblings to kill me must mean that they either had dug up some information about me, or they simply wanted me eliminated.

From looking in Temari's eyes I observed that the council had called the three Sand siblings in and briefed them on a mission that would be done without leaving the village. They chose Gaara because he was very dangerous, and they believed he could get this mission done effectively. His siblings would just be there as backup. The mission itself was very dangerous, and was jounin level.

The mission was the removal of a possible threat to the village. The assassination of Zetsumi Amai.

I once again retired to my room. I was meditating on my bed when I heard the noise from the roof. They had planned to attack me while I slept. But they would not get that luxury, I would meet them.

Glancing at my clock, it was 12:03pm. Hm, they were almost punctual.

Once on the roof I saw that Temari and Kankuro both had veils covering their faces, whilst Gaara had not. I could not discern the other two's expressions, but Gaara was glaring at me lightly. Upon seeing me on the roof they had gotten into fighting stances, except Gaara of course.

"I will assume you are here to either arrest or kill me, probably the later." I said casually.

They didn't waste any time and launched kunai at me, not wanting to reveal their identities by using their signature weapons. Catching the kunai by their handles with my fingertip, I launched them back at their owners. They quickly dodged out of harm's way.

"My, you are hasty." I dodged a kunai from the left, snagging the letter bomb attached as it flew by. I crumpled it in my hand and used some of my chakra to destroy it before it exploded.

"Here to kill me, are you?" I asked coldly. I should kill them for this.

Once again they did not reply, but instead another barrage of kunai was sent my way. I ducked under them, but was slightly surprised when they came flying my way again. A wire, huh? Now that I knew it was there, I could see it faintly in the air. Throwing one of my own shuriken, I cut the wire, causing their shuriken to clatter to the ground. From behind there came around twenty sebon needles, all laced with poison. The assassin in front of me thought to take advantage of my temporary distraction, and launch a jutsu my way.

"Kaze-teikiatsu no jusu!" A wind cyclone appeared out of the air and headed straight for me.

Taking up one of my own kunai I deflected all of the needles, causing them to fall to the ground with a light tinkle. The mini cyclone was inches away. I dodged to the side, causing the cyclone to continue on, heading straight for the second assassin. He saw this and dodged quickly to avoid getting hit.

Bored with the proceedings, I wished this would all end. I was fighting my instincts to kill them. I did not want them dead. Breaking me from my thoughts, one of my assassins came at me, trying to engage me in close combat, as did the other.

I blocked a punch to the head from the girl, only to block another to the stomach. I didn't even have to release her wrists as I saw the other man coming at me from behind. Instead, I lifted a leg and delivered a swift kick with enough force to knock the air out of him. As he stumbled back, gasping for air, I tightened my hold on the girl and shifted my grip, flipping her over my head and throwing her onto the man. They collapsed in an untidy heap on the ground.

The whole exchange lasted less than ten seconds.

"Taijutsu will get you nowhere, I am far more proficient in that area than you are." I stated blandly.

After gaining back their breath they came at me again, but this time with more caution. Their movement seemed like slow motion to me, and it was as if I were fighting a child. But a child would not be allowed to use such sharp knives.

Using said sharp knife the girl aimed for my jugular, fully intending to cut my throat, while the man attacked me from behind.

Dodging them both I stated, "your skills in taijutsu are rudimentary at best. Your moves are slow and clumsy." Taking offense in my statement, they doubled their efforts. Stupid humans, succumbing to my taunts. That's not the level-headed shinobi they were supposed to be.

"I suppose I should kill you." As much as I wanted to, I could not deliver their heads to the council by express delivery. If I did that I would have to flee the city, and wouldn't be able to follow up on that strange person.

Sighing, I moved first this time. All they saw was me disappear before a sharp pain was felt in the back of their necks. I had hit a pressure point, knocking both of them out. They both collapsed ungracefully into a heap on the roof.

Unexpected sand wrapped around me, none too gently. Gaara, who had been watching, had chosen the ideal moment to act, encasing me in sand up to my neck. I did not fight or struggle. Instead, I settled for looking at him expectantly, waiting for the sand to crush me. It did not.

"Well?" I asked "If you're going to kill me, I suggest you do it now while I am immobile."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 10

**Review peoples! **

**Chapter 12**

"_How much has to be explored and discarded before reaching the naked flesh of feeling?"_

* * *

The sand around me tightened slightly, the rough grains rubbed against my skin uncomfortably but I ignored it. Gaara looked at me unblinkingly, consciously tightening the sand, trying to get me to relent.

I would not die so easily if I were crushed in his sand. But dying wasn't the point. The point was whether he would do it or not. He had no idea that I would not die. A few weeks ago he would have killed me without hesitation. But a few weeks ago, he had not developed the morals of a human.

"Why does the council want you dead?" his voice was emotionless.

"Plenty of reasons." I said, skirting around the question.

"Tell me or I'll kill you." He would not kill me, I could see it. He had lost the motive to kill. That was the problem with his new found morals, they would not let him kill without guilt.

"Would you now? I don't believe that. What of your change of heart, eh Gaara? Do you really wish to kill me?"

"I will if I must."

"Death is not a luxury open to me, but I will welcome you to try and end my suffering." I felt the sand tighten a little more, but not in a fatal degree. He would not kill me.

"I am disappointed; it seems you have lost your edge." My voice was void of emotion.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I learned from him that killing others does not make you strong." His voice was filled with a sort of admiration.

I almost couldn't keep the smirk from my face. 'Uzumaki, huh?'

"And what if they deserve to die?"

He did not answer. I knew he still thought plenty of people deserved to die, and that he could easily kill them for his own amusement.

"They deserve to die. All of them. Disgusting things, humans are. Are they not?"

"A few weeks ago I would have agreed with you."

He denied it? And yet he had spent a lot of his life killing off others because he believed they deserved to die for the sake of his existence.

"The human race is full of those who deserve to die. They are a disgusting and foul race. They will foolishly kill each other just to prove their worth, for money, women, greed. I have seen many crimes that have been committed, for no other reason other than their enjoyment."

"You are human, so why look down upon your own race?" I had to fight to keep from letting harsh laughter bubble past my lips.

"Tell me Gaara, do you look at ants as below you? Of course not, you barely notice their existence because they are so far below you. You take no notice when you step on them, taking their lives. That is the same way I view humans. But be that as it may, I have no choice but to notice them, for their ever growing population." they are always around, and I also heard them in my head wherever I went. It was true, I could not ignore the humans as I could ants; they were always there.

A few grains of the sand fell away onto the ground. His sand had been falling slowly from my body for the past couple minutes.

"I want to form bonds with those people, to do that I must think of them as equals."

"As it were, I do not believe in your proclamation of divine change. If you try you will be like a fish out of water, your gills will do you no good, and you will surely suffocate."

What an idiot he was. He may as well been as incompetent as all the other humans. Whatever force had drawn me to him was gone now. I could still smell him, I still wanted to taste his blood, to feel it coat my throat like the finest wine. But he had changed in a few short weeks. He was no longer someone I could feel drawn to. He was just a flesh bag of mundane emotions.

The sand had completely freed me now. He would not kill me. How disappointing that thought was.

I nodded towards Temari and Kankuro who still lay crumpled "Tell the council that I did not discover your identities and that the mission failed." I had no more desire to speak with him. His worth had decreased much since our last meeting.

A few days after the incident, realizing their plan had failed, I was given the rank of chunin by the Suna council. They were afraid of giving me too much power in the ranks, so I was only a chunin. I did not put on my new hitai-ate; instead, I put it in my bag with other things. Wearing a hitai-ate symbolized that you were a part of the village and you were sworn to it. I was not, and would never be a part of this village.

Over the next month I was kept busy, being sent on assassination missions. Obviously the council was trying to get me killed in a way that would look like an accident.

I also kept my distance from Gaara. Too much had been revealed already. Whenever I did run into him by chance, he did not speak but looked at me with a look mixed with curiosity and pity.

Pity was a horribly useless emotion. It did nothing for you except to distract you. I did not need anyone's pity. I was not one to be pitied.

I was studying an ancient text I had retrieved from the shinobi files when Gaara entered the house. I sniffed in annoyance and moved onto the roof, as to be farther away. It was dusk, so I only need to use a little shadow to avoid being burned. I read over the file. There was no information on the Soudai. Over the months I had been studying the texts, but besides that one passage in the book nothing surfaced.

It was not particularly hard to believe Gaara had changed. What was hard to believe was that I had let myself even get attached by the emotion of curiosity. So this was Gaara. Weak, stupid, and completely human. He was useless to me.

"Other people who are weaker than you exist for you to manipulate and to control." There was no emotion in the father's face as he looked down upon his only offspring. His eyes, though, were filled with smoldering anger and hatred towards the young girl.

I continued walking down the desolate street. A few stray cats scuttled away as I passed by an alley. I walked slowly, waiting for the night to pass. It was odd, since I was made for the night, yet I had to accommodate my living to those around me.

I stopped and looked up at the moon. It was beautiful. The only thing that was completely unaffected by the humans. Its luminescent light shadowed all that the world did not want to see.

Twisting my head to the right, I looked down the alley which I had scared the cats to earlier. There was an unnatural shadow down there. I could tell, it looked as if the shadow had another resting over it. It moved further down the ally until it was out of my line of sight.

No doubt it was the one who I had been sensing during the week. There was another scent with him this time, a young woman. She was most definitely human. His next meal perhaps, if he was indeed a vampire.

I moved down the alley quickly, intent on capturing this man and asking him some much needed questions.

The alleyway was dark, and I could once again hear his footsteps ahead of me. Not wasting any time, I ran full speed, cutting him off. He hissed and turned running the other direction. He had managed to elude me the night before simply because I had not been prepared. I had had no idea his speed would match mine. But it didn't match mine, he was slower and that made all the difference. Using my greater speed to my advantage, I moved before he could take off and grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. I gripped him none to gently, and he screamed in pain.

The scream turned quickly into a snicker. My eyes widened a fraction as I felt his bones mend beneath my finger. He yanked himself out of my grip and sprung a few feet away,and then turned to face me. I got my first good look at his face.

He was quite handsome. He looked to be around the age of 17. He had jet black hair that framed his face nicely. His face was hard and angular, he had sharp high-set cheekbones. His eyes wer also gold like mine. He had a nice build under his tight, form-fitting outfit.

If any humans were to lay eyes on him, they would assume that this was what gods looked like.

"Zetsumi Amai?" He asked quietly.

I didn't answer. I was observing him. I knew nothing about this person and couldn't access his thoughts. I would just have to observe his body language and kill him if he made any wrong moves.

"Come now, being silent when one askes you a question is not considered proper manners." He said with mock reproach.

This man probably knew who I was, considering when he had spoken my name it sounded more like a statement than a question. But how did he know? If I had met this man before, I was sure I would remember it. But I had not met him before, so he remained a stranger.

"Who are you?" I asked sharply. This man he was a vampire, it was so easy to tell now. My earlier suspicions had been confirmed.

"I'm impressed you caught me so quickly, after one day no less. But to be surprised would be insulting to you lady Amai, you are, after all, a prodigy." He had ignored my question.

He had spoken respectfully. What did he mean I was a prodigy, what did he know about me? Nothing, we had only just met. "And how, may I ask, is it that you know of me?" I asked.

"Ahh, why wouldn't I know of you? I was, after all, sent here to find you." he smirked slightly.

"By whom?" he was starting to irritate me.

"By the master, of course. He wants to meet with you very badly. The master has been looking for you for quite some time." He was standing close to me now. I had not even seen him move. But oddly, I didn't mind.

"And who is this master of yours?" he was dodging questions.

"Not mine, ours." We were centimeters apart now; I had to look up to see him, considering my shorter status.

I hissed. "I have no master. Whoever is foolish to try and claim the title will be dead very soon."

What was he talking about? I had forgotten nothing. He was clearly trying to play with my mind. Feeding me false information and getting me distracted.

"I have forgotten nothing. If you are just going to continue spouting nonsensical information, I suppose I shall just have to kill you."

"If you did that then you'd never figure out what the master wants." He grinned, revealing elongated fangs. "You should come with me. I'm sure the master would be much more pleased to talk to you in person." He held a hand out to me.

I slapped the hand away. "I'm going nowhere with you."

He sighed. "Well then, I guess will just have to do this the hard way. It saddens me, though. I do not like to harm a lady." With that he lunged forward, aiming a punch to my stomach.

I dodged out of the way and went to trip him, while evading a kick to the head. He jumped and I took the opportunity to aim a punch at his midsection. He used his arms to block the blow and twisted to land on his feet. I tried to punch him only to find my hand locked grasped in his larger one. He twisted my captured fist and flipped me over his shoulder bending my wrist in a very painful position. Yet I paid no heed to the pain as I kicked off his back, forcing him to release me.

I pulled out a kunai, and he pulled out a thin sword from its sheath that was placed conveniently on his back. We lunged at each other at that same time and collided with a sharp clang of metal hitting metal. I pushed against his sword for a moment before backing off. He was not taking this fight seriously. I was not using my full strength either, but I was still amazed he could keep up with me. I could not determine his full strength though, as he was not using it. Before I had time to finish that thought he came at me again, his sword aimed at my neck. I leaned back to avoid the blade and kicked my foot up knocking the sword from his hand. It landed with a clatter behind me.

As he was now disarmed, he backed up quite some distance and smiled slightly. He bowed and held his hands in front of himself in mock defeat.

"Ah, it seems that I am now weaponless. What to do, what to do?" he said, locking eyes with me.

"You disappoint me. It would seem I overestimated you. If you cannot fight without a weapon then you are not worth my time."

"I see. Well then, I guess I wouldn't want to disappoint you Lady Amai."

"We shall see." I said, my voice monotone.

I chucked my kunai at his feet, causing him to look down while jumping back. While he was distracted for a small second I came from behind and delivered a hard kick, sending him into the ally wall. He slumped to his knees and I came in front of him, grasping his hair and jerking his head upwards. There was a thin line of blood running from the corner of his mouth and a nice cut below his eye that was already healing rapidly. It was interesting to learn that he also healed as fast as I did. By the force of his impact on the wall I would of said he had at least two broken ribs and some that were bruised. Even if he was rapidly healing it would be a couple minutes before he could get back to his feet.

"So, why does your master wish to see me?" I asked coldly.

"You forget that he is your master as well." He replied after spitting out a glob of blood.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "And you seem to forget that which I have already made clear. I have no master, and if you continue to pursue the thought that I do I will hurt you in many ways. Of course, I wouldn't kill you – it seems I would do well to get some information from you first."

He tried to move out of my grasp but I yanked him upward by the hair and delivered a swift punch to the stomach, re-breaking the freshly healed ribs. He hacked, and blood flew from his mouth with each cough.

My voice held no sympathy when I spoke. "Now what does your master want with me?" He did not answer.

I lifted my knee and hit him in the groin, applying a large amount of pressure. I untangled my hand from his hair and grabbed his throat, slamming him back against the wall. His head connected with a sick thud and he gritted his head against the pain.

"I do not know. I was only told to deliver a message," he gasped. So he was only trying to capture me to impress his master, in hope of forwarding his own position.

"And that message is?" I asked callously, looking into his eyes.

"He told me to tell you, 'It is time to return home'." I released his throat and he fell to the ground.

"I have no home. You can tell your master that I certainly won't be coming to his any time soon." He got to his feet with no difficulty, as he was already healed.

"Of course I will relay your message with much haste, Lady Amai." He phased out of my sight and I was alone in the alleyway.

The following morning I found myself on the roof of my temporary residence. The first rays of sunlight were struggling over the horizon. It was a beautiful thing to see the night fade to day and to witness the first rays of sun. Obviously someone agreed with me, because a little ways away from me appeared Gaara.

We sat and watched the sun until it rose fully from behind the horizon.

"I regret nothing I have done." he spoke.

"Even killing all those people whom you claim were innocent?" He shook his head no.

"I have no reason to criticize you, but you remind me of me," he said with a note of sadness in his voice.

"Ah, I see. Are you trying to give me pity, Subaku no Gaara?" I asked coldly.

"No. Pity would be wasted on you. And I don't really understand emotions well, so I cannot give out pity as freely as others." he said solemnly.

He was wrong, though. His eyes showed pity even though he did not understand the emotion.

But was I really one to be pitied. Me, who lived a hollow existence by my own choice. I, after all, could just not feed and hopefully wither away. But I clung to the frail illusion of life so desperately. It seemed that I was just as bad as the humans. Only they had the right to live. The right given to them by whatever higher power had aided in their creation. I on the other hand was supposed to be dead. I was not meant to live, my life was made up of others' lives that I had stolen for no reason other than my own desperate wish for life.

But I had already known what I was doing while I took their lives. I was not stupid. I knew that by doing so I was denying death. I knew I was being incredibly selfish. I knew I was acting like a human. If I was not mistaken, I was even worse than the humans were.

The revelation hit me harder than expected. Suddenly I felt the need to breathe as if I had been deprived of air for too long. My hand clenched against the wood and dug into my palms.

"Yes, you are right, your pity would have little meaning to me." My voice was now hollow of emotion, even coldness.

Gaara seemed to pick up on my tone and looked at me oddly.

"Pity is not an easy thing to come by in this village. Most of the citizens are just bitter towards me because of the loss of their loved ones. I understand that now."

"This village seems incapable of love, or pity," I said.

The hustle and bustled of the village began to pick up as the people of the village awoke and set up shops or ventured to the market early to get the best deals on products. My eye was caught when a small gang of filthy children stealthily stole some apples from a nearby cart. They wore rags that barely covered their thin frames and had no shoes to speak of.

I shook my head in disgust. No, this village was not capable of love or pity.

Gaara had followed where my eyes were and saw the children. He shook his head sadly. "When I become Kazekage, I would want to help those children."

"You want to become Kazekage?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "It's my dream. I want to protect Sunagakure, I want to protect these people." he motioned towards the people on the street.

"What a foolish dream you have. Do you expect that they will acknowledge you willingly, do you expect they will stop hating you? If you do then you are foolish. Besides, I see nothing and no one in this village that is worth protecting." I spat out the last bit almost angrily.

Gaara stared at me for sometime, then said, "I do not expect them to acknowledge me right away. I also do not expect to become Kazekage anytime soon, I'll have to work towards my goal as all the former Kazekages did."

He looked at me a moment longer while I still had my emotionless mask in place. "Come," he said shortly, walking toward the edge of the roof. He looked back when I did not follow and repeated himself. "Come."

Slowly getting to my feet I followed him over the edge of the building. I don't know why I followed him, maybe I was still in shock over my revelation. It could have just been that I was curious, but I followed him none the less. He led me through the streets, which were beginning to get full. I noticed many of the people give Gaara heated glares when they thought he wouldn't notice. Most just kept out of his way in fear. I got odd looks as well. They all wondered who I was and what I was doing with the boy they had deemed 'monster'.

I paid the thoughts little attention as I had expected them to think that, as humans were so signal minded. I couldn't help but notice I felt a bit angry at all the looks they gave Gaara. He wanted to change so badly to protect this trash. They knew nothing of what he was doing to earn their trust and compassion. But as I had said before, they were very single minded.

I walked a little ways behind Gaara, not wanting to be at his side. I was curious as to where I was leading me. I couldn't simply look into his mind for the answers because he was closed to me. I once again felt frustration towards him; I did not like being kept in the dark.

Ahead of me Gaara walked as if he was unaware of all the glares. But I could tell by the stiffening of his spine that he was all too aware. He kept on his usual impassive face and his arms were crossed across his chest as he walked. As we made our way through the busy market he told me to look around myself.

"Try to look without any discrimination," he said quietly as he looked around, apparently doing the same.

I did not feel like looking around. All I would see was the same pathetic life forms I saw every day. As if sensing I was not doing as he was, Gaara turned and gave me a pointed look. I sighed and looked around, my eyes narrowed. I saw people in the market talking and laughing, some just going about their daily business. There were also children hiding behind their mother's skirts or chasing friends. I saw the same band of little thieves as I had earlier and paused to look at them.

They were all young, no older than ten. They all wore dirty rags and smelt horrible. Earlier I had counted nine of them, now there were only eight. I wondered where the other one had gone. I glanced back at the stray kids and noticed their gazes focused on something else. I followed their gaze into the market and saw that they were staring at one of their friends being beaten by a shopkeeper he had tried to steal from. The children were all on the balls of their feet, looking indecisive about running or helping their helpless friend.

I looked back at the small boy. He was terrified and completely helpless to defend himself. Around me the citizens walked by as if not knowing what was going on. But I could tell from their quick glances that they knew all to well. I almost scowled. Filthy useless humans. If I was to be better than them I would have to be above their petty indifference.

I saw the shopkeeper raise his hand to strike another blow at the child. Before the blow landed I was standing before him and had his hand gripped tightly in mine.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, missy?" he asked angrily.

"Tell me, do you think it is fair to hit a child when you a grown man, and we are clearly stronger than he is?" I asked, not relinquishing my hold on his arm.

"He was trying to steal from my shop. The little beggar got what's coming to him!" he spat nastily.

I looked down at the boy who was staring at me with tears flowing from his eyes.

"Apologize," I told him harshly

He winced at looked at the man with terrified eyes "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"That still means nothing." He was going to continue but Gaara came up behind me and his words died in his mouth.

The boy also stared behind me, his eyes growing wide, and he started to shake violently.

"He has apologized, that seems like enough," said Gaara quietly. The shopkeeper nodded his head dumbly.

I turned to the kid and saw that one of his legs was fractured. He needed medical treatment. This was getting bothersome. I bent down and lifted the child into my arms. Walking from the shopkeeper I left the pavilion and headed toward Gaara's home. I did not want go to the hospital. I would be able to heal this injury myself.

During the walk there I did not speak to the child, for I could not think of any words to say. I was not used to speaking to children. To the adults I spoke harshly and with indifference, using respect only when it was called for. I had never actually spoken to a child and did not know how to judge them. I knew their thoughts, they were innocent enough, but I knew what they would grow up to be through no fault of their own.

Thoughts raced through the boy's head but he did not question where we were going. When we got to Gaara's house I set him on the couch and examined his wounds. The bruises I could heal, but the fracture was going to take time. Sighing inwardly I looked at the boy. His eyes were downcast and he was tense. He also kept shooting me and Gaara glances.

Collecting chakra into my hand I began to heal the boy. He lifted his head to stare in amazement

"What's your name?" I asked, not looking up.

He didn't answer so I ignored it until I was finished. Gaara had disappeared into the house and came back with bandages. After that he left, sensing that his presence made the child fearful. I bandaged the leg and looked at him. Leaving, I left him sitting on the coach. When I returned a few minutes later he had not moved. I stood in the doorway looking at him for a few seconds. Why had I brought him here? He was just a human, so he didn't matter at all.

"Tora." The voice was hardly a whisper.

Tiger, huh?

I nodded lightly. I turned slightly and saw Temari closing the front door.

"Hello Amai – ah, who's this?" she asked, puzzled when she saw the very dirty boy on the couch.

"Tora," I answered, then I turned and left. She would take care of the boy. I made my way to the roof. I did not want to be in the house now that another human had been added to it. Gaara was on the roof also. He looked at me for a moment.

"That was very kind, what you did." he said unemotionally.

"Kindness had nothing to do with it."

A week passed. Tora slept in my room because I had no need for it. Most of the time he stayed in the room, and not even Temari could coax him out. His leg was healing well, but it would be at least a week or two before he could walk on his own. He did not eat either, and Temari was growing increasingly worried.

Finally I tried to bring him downstairs.

"Tora, get up." I handed him the crutch that Kankuro had made. He just looked at me. Sighing, I grabbed him by the arm and forced him to grab hold of the crutch.

I half led and half dragged him down stairs where Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were eating. I set him in a chair and sat in the one next to him. He looked around and at the food in front of him as if he expected it to disappear. When he saw Gaara, he started to shake.

I noticed and said, "You have nothing to fear."

He looked at me as if my words were reassuring.

"Go on, eat," said Temari, trying to convince him it was okay.

Hesitantly he picked up his fork and began to eat slowly, still sending Gaara looks every once in awhile.

Over the next few weeks Tora's leg healed and he became more comfortable around Gaara and I. He jabbered away constantly, but would fall silent when asked. At first I had thought him a quiet boy, but he had gradually gotten used to talking around us. He sounded very intelligent when he talked, as if her were older than he was and knew things that he kept to himself, silent to the rest of the world.

He seemed to have taken a liking to Gaara and me. He would often enough follow Gaara and watch him while he trained. He followed me along as well, and had taken to calling me nee-san. I supposed it was because I had saved him and he felt he had to pay his dues. Even as a child he would feel some sort of obligation, otherwise he would probably not bother.

One day just as I was leaving the house Tora ran up to my side.

"Nee-san, can I come with you?" he asked pleadingly.

"If you wish to," I replied slowly.

I had been planning on finding the vampire that I had fought in the ally. I had never figured out his name. Since Tora was now coming along, I supposed I would just take a walk through the town. Since the day Gaara and I had walked for a short time and found Tora, I figured it wouldn't hurt to walk and look. I saw things such as mothers playing with their children and couples embracing. At first it had made me slightly annoyed and angry, but I got used to it. I still thought such relationships and bonds were useless. Once when Tora had come with me we had seen his old gang of ragamuffins. Temari had officially made Tora an offer for him to stay with us. He was overjoyed.

"This is an official offer, so Tora, how about it? Would you like to live with us?" Temari asked, leaning down onto her knees.

The boy looked up at her with wide eyes. His mouth suddenly twisted and his eyes watered at the corners. He sniffed, trying to hold the emotions back lest he look like a cry baby in front of me and Gaara.

"Well, Tora?" Temari asked gently.

"Thank you." He said quietly before launching into her arms. He also hugged Gaara around the waist. Gaara patted his head awkwardly. Tora did not hug me, only bowed respectfully. He knew I did not like to be touched, but he smiled brightly at me none the less.

When Tora told his friends that he now had a home they all wept at his leaving their group. They were all happy for Tora at having a home now, but some were a bit jealous and bitter.

As we walked I thought about how I was as bad as these people were and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I was better than they were, I was not like them. Somewhere where people might consider their heart I felt that I was horrible and in denial.

Tora noticed the look on my face and asked, "Is there something wrong, nee-san?"

I looked down at the boy and muttered, "Nothing." Damn, even a child noticed I was loosing my grip on my emotions.

"I think there is something wrong." He stated blandly. "You know if something's wrong, you should talk about it. It will make you feel better. That's what my mommy told me before she went away."

I had grown an odd sort of liking for Tora. I admired how he spoke his mind about sensitive matters and cared not about what others thought.

"There is nothing the matter Tora, but your concern is appreciated." I said stiffly.

After Tora had gotten tired of the market, we returned to Gaara's home and I retired to the roof where I slept since Tora was in my room. I did not mind sleeping under the stars. They were beautiful. While others felt their beds were more comfortable, I liked the open air where the smell was not as bad and crowded with scents.

I was lying on the small ledge when he entered. He came and sat a little off besides me. Gaara was always up here on the roof. We usually saw each other up here. We talked once in awhile, but mostly shared the silence of the night between ourselves. When we did talk it was usually about our perspective on life or his past life. He was interesting, despite my earlier thoughts of him being a normal, hate-worthy human.

This particular night he sat without speaking. For awhile we sat, just looking at the stars. I didn't move from my sitting position, because I felt that he would not attack me and there was no need to be on guard. About a month ago I could not relax anywhere near Gaara, but now he was one of the only people I could relax with.

"I have a mission tomorrow. I was informed today," he said suddenly.

"Hm."

"You're to go on this mission too, the council asked me to tell you."

"What kind of mission is it?" I asked, already knowing.

"An A class assignation" He said solemnly. I knew he did not wish to kill, he had told me that if he could avoid taking life again he would. But that was a foolish hope. In the life of a shinobi there was no way to avoid killing.

"Who is the target?"

He held a packet above me and I sat up so I could grab them. Our target was a daimyo. He was in charge of a large underground smuggling company. They imported and outputted dangerous weapons and information to other countries. There was also a floor layout of his house and pinpoints where the sentries were posted. We would have to figure out when the sentries' shift ended ourselves.

"When are we leaving?" I asked, standing up.

"Now would be suitable," he proposed.

I nodded my head at the idea. We would get ahead of schedule if we left now. I left quickly to get my kunai pouch and other tools from Tora's room, where I still stored my things. When I entered through the window I saw him in the bed, his back facing me.

"Do you have a mission?" I almost jumped as the voice sounded suddenly.

"Yes," I said, grabbing my pouch and making for the window.

"Don't die," Tora said quietly, and I exited the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

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"_How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said"_

* * *

Finally we found the room where the target was. While Gaara killed the guards, I slipped inside and found the daimyo awake at his desk, going over some documents. Moving closer I saw they were layouts of Suna. This was why the council wanted him eliminated, he were a threat.

Pulling out a kunai, I twirled it in my fingers. The daimyo heard the soft whistling and turned. His face twisted in fear as he registered that I was not one of the nin under his command.

Before he could utter a sound I pulled the kunai across his neck. Blood sprayed out and he gagged, choking on his own blood. It was, in a way, satisfying to watch. The way he choked on his own blood.

When I left the room I found Gaara waiting outside the door for me. We left back the way we came. As we ran we heard a sharp piercing sound. An alarm had been raised. One of the dead nin had been found and they knew we were here.

When we got outside we saw numbers nin waiting to ambush us as we exited. I hadn't figured there were so many.

"Well well, look boys, assassins." One of the more obnoxious ones said. "It's a shame you went and killed the daimyo. Now who's gonna pay us? I suppose we could kill them, as they cheated us out of pay."

The idiot really wanted to die. Saying big things when you didn't know your opponent's strength. It was also stupid to go on talking; it gave your opponent the perfect opportunity to strike.

I moved quickly, killing the one whom had spoken by putting my hand through his chest. I drove my elongated nails through him, cutting through bone and ripping his heart to shreds, eventually coming out with the other end with the sickening sound of ripping flesh. The obnoxious human had annoyed me and now he was dead.

Pulling out my hand I turned to face the remaining nin, while liking the blood-covered appendage. Feeling a bit excited I ran into them, killing many with my bare hands. I felt sand fly by and knew Gaara had joined the fight as well.

I estimated that there were around 50 ninja. I couldn't determine how many we had killed, the smell of blood was too thick and I was enjoying myself too much. I didn't see any jutsu or weapons. I needed to feel the blood on my hands to know I killed them. To know I was able to kill them. It proved I was better than they were, that they were below me. Of course they were below me, how could they not be? I was stronger, faster and more intelligent.

"_We are superior to any one around us. Especially you, my little Hissori-hime. You were born to be special, more important. That's why you're better," the woman said in a sweetly fake tone that made me want to kill her where she stood. I couldn't, though. This was the woman who had my utmost obedience, my hate, my love, and my life._

"_As I know I am. I look down on those around me as trash because that is what they are to our great family." The words slipped easily between my lips. Those words she wanted to hear, the words that I believed._

Turning sharply I cracked another nin's neck. They were going down quickly. There were only a few left, and seeing that they were few in number they fled. Soon it was just Garra and I standing in the middle of a blood-covered courtyard.

I stood silently and looked at the dead bodies of the men and women I killed. They lay lifeless on the ground that was covered in their comrades' blood. They had died because they were weak. In a fight you either killed or were killed; the strongest survived. I had survived. I was stronger. I was better than them.

Hearing the shuffle of feet and soft footsteps, I became aware of Gaara presence. I turned and looked at him. He was standing there looking at the bodies as I was. I'm sure my face had been impassive with neither pity nor regret towards the dead. His was face was blank, but his eyes seemed sad in way. Did he regret killing those men? Of course he did he had said he didn't like killing.

_The moon shone, it was full. The moon always seemed better when it was full, like a flower at full bloom. Gaara was once again accompanying me on the roof. I had gotten used to his constant presence by now._

"_Did you enjoy killing, Gaara?" I asked quietly. If he had taken joy in the act of killing that would prove something to me._

"_Hn." I waited, while knowing he was thinking over his answer._

_Finally he responded, "No"_

I couldn't remember when I had ever enjoyed killing. I thought more of it as proof of my being better. The more I killed, the more certain I was that I was better, that I wasn't just a monster.

I looked Gaara over. He was covered in blood as I was. There were little splatters and spots where blood had fallen on him. His smell mixed with the smell of blood was almost too much for me to handle. Once again I focused on his face. There on his cheek was something that looked very enticing. A little bit of blood. As he walked closer his smell grew all the more inviting.

Finally he stopped right in front of me, only a foot away. I could easily have leaned over and bit him. It was so heard to resist the primal urge to kill him. It was that damn spot of blood. It made him smell so good and look so inviting.

Without thinking I leaned forward suddenly my tongue running slowly across his cheek cleaning it of the blood. His flesh tasted amazing better than anything I had ever tasted.

I felt Gaara stiffen almost instantly. He probably was in shock of what I was doing. I was too. I leaned back; his shocked face was looking at me. He wasn't able to comprehend what I did, neither was I. I had just acted on my instincts.

As I examined his face I spotted yet another speck of blood. I didn't stop to think, I acted, bringing my lips forward onto his and cleaning away the blood. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. His breath mixed with mine and I felt enthralled. His lips, his breath tasted so good. It made my head foggy. I wanted more. I pressed my lips tighter against his, deepening the kiss as my tongue entered his mouth, seeking to taste more of him.

Suddenly I realized what I was doing and almost pulled away, but then Gaara kissed me back. His lips moved against mine softly. His tongue moved against mine, making me shiver slightly. My knees felt weak

and my body trembled, as if it would fall apart if not for the hand that was now placed at my back, pulling me closer.

My eyes snapped open and I pushed away from him sharply. I was panting for breath and astonishment. I hadn't just done that. Gaara's hand hung in the air slightly, but fell back to his side as he stared in shock. What had I done? I had kissed him. There was no logical reason as to why I would do something as that.

My head felt muffled and my thoughts out of order. I couldn't think straight. Gaara's scent didn't help. I was confused and slightly disoriented. Once again acting without thinking, I turned and fled from the compound, from Gaara.

Once I was far enough away I stopped. I could no longer smell him or the blood from the bodies. I could think again. I had acted without thinking; I had done something I never should have done. More importantly, I had kissed Gaara. I never should have done that. I let my instincts get in the way of rational thought.

Kissing him hadn't been on instinct, though. I had been so close to his lips, his breath - his smell had confused me. But through the haze I could tell how close our bodies were, where my lips were and who he was. I had known all of this, and yet I had still kissed him.

I thought back to the kiss. His lips had felt soft and fragile against mine. When he had kissed back I had felt a deep sense of contentment. I had wanted it. I was not stupid enough to deny it. I could see very clearly now what had happened, what had been happening. I was smart enough to know. Somewhere along the line I had developed feelings for Gaara. I had understood this for a while now. It had just been made startling clear by this last event. When we talked, I was content.

At first I think I was confused. I never really felt many emotions other than hate and anger. I didn't know what to make of it so I placidly ignored it, thinking of it as a mere annoyance.

I gritted my teeth. God, I was so simple. Put a person who bore some resemblance of me personality-wise and I became a fool A growl forced itself from my throat. It made me frustrated and angry with myself. I was weak after all. I had no control. If I had seen this coming I could have stopped it. I should have seen it coming. We had spent time together, I should have noticed the way my views of him changed. I had stopped viewing him as a human; I had viewed him as an equal.

I don't know how much time I spent standing there contemplating my feelings and Gaara. When I finally forced myself to move, I went back to the compound to retrieve the layouts of Suna the daimyo had had. I didn't see Gaara, to my relief. I knew what I felt, and judging by the act that he had committed by returning the kiss he felt something as well. This was a situation I had no experience in.

By the time I returned to Suna and handed in the documents as well as my report it was well past midnight. Gaara and I had been gone only two days. I made my way to the Subaku household slowly. When I arrived, I checked in on Tora. He was sleeping soundly. I didn't make a move to go to the roof, knowing he would be there. I didn't want to see him. It may drive me to do something I would later regret. I cold still smell him, taste him. I could hurt him without meaning to. I told myself that I wasn't avoiding him because of the kiss.

I made my way through the streets of Suna slowly, taking my time just waiting for the dawn to arrive. When the sun moved above the horizon, I could safely assume that Gaara was somewhere else training with the team he had recently joined or somewhere else. He didn't stay in the house often. It was still dark out, so no one was about except the occasional drunk. They yielded little interest for me, I didn't pay much attention when they gave out cat calls.

"_You're joining a new team? Interesting. Should I inquire as to why?" I asked when Gaara had sprung the sudden news._

"_To become strong enough, so that I may become Kazekage. I can't do that unless I join a new team and create new bonds with new people." He said, folding his arms over his chest and not looking in my direction. I'm sure he could guess what I about to say next._

"_As for you still holding on to your silly dream, I advise against it. The future, there is no need to contemplate or dream about it. What you need to focus on is now. It is the only way to be sure you don't get killed. Bonds? They are worthless as well. Who knows, one of the people you form a bond with could be the one to kill you. Its how human nature is."_

"_Uzumaki Naruto. He showed me the importance of bonds. He told me what they were, showed me what they could do. I want to form bonds with these people, I want to protect them with all my strength. Bonds. They are not worthless, I'm sure of it." Hs voice filled with passion as he spoke. It was almost poetic, except for the fact that I thought every word was lies born from misinformation._

"_There is no purpose to what you seek. Do you really think these people will hate you any less? They are human, they fear the unusual; they are cruel and spiteful when the want to be. If you try to do this they will crush you and beat you down until you cannot stand back up. It's just how humans are." I calmed after the first sentence left my mouth, and then spoke with icy conviction._

"_Why do you hate them so much?" he looked at me searchingly, as if trying to read my mind._

_That wasn't going to happen any time soon though._

"_Hmm? Well I suppose it's because, living as a shinobi I have seen the full extent of humanity's cruelness. I have seen children, wives, fathers and many others killed. But what difference does it make. In the end those children may have grown up to be killers, so they are only killing killers, which makes them all the more disgusting."_

"_And yet, you're a shinobi." He stated softly._

_I looked at him evenly. "Yes, I am."_

During the time that we spoke I had begun to feel a sort of respect for Gaara. He didn't hold the cruelties of humans against them. Instead he silently forgave them. It was lunacy, but still admirable. I don't know when I had begun to feel something more than respect. All I knew was that I didn't like it.

It was almost as if it were the way everyone said love to be. To want to be around that person, to admire them, to just feel content whenever they were near.

I realized now that I hated these feelings, so I crushed them. I crushed them lower and lower until they were almost unnoticeable, but not nonexistent. But then tonight happened. I was weak. I couldn't control my emotions.

Mentally sighing, I continued my aimless trek around the village.

"_Do you have a purpose in life?" asked Gaara quietly. "I don't, but I want one. That's why I'm aiming to be Kazekage."_

"_Purpose? There is no purpose in life besides reaching the ultimate end of death. That is life's only purpose, so all you can do is keep killing and hope you don't get killed." I recited these words emotionlessly._

_Gaara glanced at me slowly. The look on his face was contemplating and disbelieving, it was an odd expression. Was it really that hard to understand? I had said the words simply. Maybe he was becoming incompetent as well as soft._

Death, it was so simple. So easy to give, so easily received. You could kill and die in an instant. Only a few people would be affected. The world would continue. Simple really, and yet it seemed it that it would not be simple at all for me.

Before I could react there was the feeling of cool metal placed at my jugular. The blade was held with precision so that if I made any move my throat would be slit.

"Zetsumi Amai, caught off her guard. Now why is this, hm? Maybe it's that human boy you've been spending so much time with lately."

* * *

**A thousand thanks to my beta... drumroll... munkeemunkee! Your help is appreciated by all (especially me ) so thank you!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**_A/N: Hola, ..."Look! omg its a new chapter!" i know its amazing, after all this time i finally updated. Of course with the help of my awesome Beta MunkeeMunkee.  
_**

**Chapter 14**

* * *

"_The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."_

* * *

It seemed that my messenger boy was back. It was sooner than I had expected.

"How nice of you to return," I said. The only part of my body moving was my lips.

"You're not even going to deny it? That boy must have really changed you." He spoke casually, in a voice that suggested he was contemplating something.

Not responding I grabbed the hand that was holding his blade and twisted. It was risky enough; if I made a wrong move my jugular would have been sliced. But my movements were precise and his wrist snapped.

"Next time you speak with me I suggest you do so with respect." He was stupid to believe I would continue to play like a doll while he held a blade to my neck. I was not a weak human who gave in at the slightest possibility of death.

"Now, I believe you have delivered my message correct?" I asked as he held his wrist carefully.

"Of course, Lady Amai," he hesitated.

"Well?"

"He was not at all pleased. He wishes for you to come to him of your own consent in one week or he will send someone to bring you to him." As he spoke a small smirk had worked itself on his face. "I think it would be better of you to come, I wouldn't want to meet whomever he sends for you."

I ignored his last comment. "I assure you I have no desire to meet your Master. If he wishes to speak to me he may come to me, and if he sends someone after me then I'll just have to dispose of said person."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you."

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" I asked coldly

"It's nothing, but the master also pointed out that if you do succeed in dispatching the person sent to retrieve you, he will have no choice but to convince you." he articulated the word carefully.

"Convince me? And do, pray tell, how he would go about such a measure?"

"He has discovered a weakness of yours." My eyes narrowed. "It's a certain human, or humans if you count the child." He spoke with a fake nonchalance, which was in no way believable. I was sure by the slight fear in his eyes he knew he was going to endure some form of hurt, either from me, or his master if he failed.

"They are no weakness of mine. If you are depraved enough to believe that I would care about something as lowly as a human you are quite mistaken." Each word was accompanied with an underlying plate of steel. If I had been a lesser person I may have been convinced by my own words.

"Do you think we don't know? We've been watching you. We know all about your relationship with the Shukaku boy. I must say though, he is beneath you. I never thought a woman of your heritage would sink so low."

I narrowed my eyes at his last comment. Who was he to assume he knew me so? When he had spoken he said "your heritage", I narrowed my eyes further. He knew something about me.

Before he had time to blink I was behind him with a kunai at his throat, prepared to take off his head if he moved. Visibly he didn't move, but there was a light contracting of his muscles that showed he was tense.

"Now, what of my heritage?" I said softly into his ear.

"Ah, that's right. You forgot, didn't you? Oh how the noble have fallen, such a pity."

"The only pity there will be is from the poor villagers who find your corpse in the morning. That is, unless you tell me what I want to know." I pressed the blade closer to his throat until a small trickle of blood escaped from under his skin.

Instantly he reverted his tone to the one of respect that he had used the last time we had met. "I would, if only I could. I have no such knowledge that would interest you, Lady Amai. To get your answers you would have to see the Master."

I hissed lowly between my teeth. This vampire was useless, but he was the only one I had had contact with so he was my only connection to this 'Master' he spoke of.

"Tell me more about your Master." I said coldly, removing my blade from his neck so he would be able to talk more easily.

"Of course." He rubbed the spot on his neck where the cut had already healed. "He, as I said, is my master, but not just mine. He is the master to many of our kind. His name is Gaidoku, the oldest living vampire. He is also the head of our clan, the Shouyou, the greatest clan of vampires. "

I almost couldn't believe it – there was a whole clan of vampires. I had lived years believing I was the only one and yet there was an entire clan. It was absurd; they had to be well hidden for me not to have found out about their whereabouts in some way or another.

I forced down my mixed feelings of relief, irritation and curiosity enough to let out a few cold words. "And tell me more about these Shouyou."

His eyes shifted nervously for a second "I'm not very inclined to answer that, you see. As most clans we are more private about matters that the outside world needs not know."

So it seemed that almost in the same way as our last meeting I had him slammed up against the wall before he could blink. Even though he was not human I could tell he had the same fears and conceptions as them. He valued his life more than information that would be useless to him if dead.

"Seeing as I am also a vampire, it should make little difference to your clan if I am told these matters or not." I almost enjoyed the extra trickle of fear that fell into his system as he weighed the outcomes his choice would have on him.

"Well, if you put it like that, it's a bit hard to decline." He kept his voice steady as he spoke, which I accounted him for. "The Shouyou are a clan of vampires. Not all of us were vampires originally, some were chosen because of their skill to be turned or just happened to be the result of another's recklessness. Of course those who were reckless are punished by death." He seemed to read my thoughts as he added, "only a vampire can kill a vampire and only our clan possesses the knowledge of how. I wouldn't know if we had any real goals, as I am only an underling. I'm sure that the master has his own intents and purposes. WE will follow that purpos when the time comes that he needs us.

"How long has the clan been around" I asked.

"Around a thousand years I would assume, but I'm sure sometime before that, the master is very old."

I stayed silent for a moment, contemplating what I had learned in the little he had said so far. It wasn't much, but it was more than I had learned in the last couple hundred years. I assumed that the clan was very powerful if they were selective enough to only choose people with special abilities and such. The head of the clan, Gaidoku – he was one to be wary of, I suspected.

When he saw that I had paused, he continued. "For the moment we collect jutsu and create new Vampires from those we deem worthy – some die in the process, though. It really is a shame. They are all so talented."

"And you? What is your special ability?" I asked. I did not want any unexpected surprises.

"I can control the shadows" he said simply.

As he said that I narrowed my eyes slightly. Was it possible that this man had the same abilities as I?

"How?"

"It was a Bloodline of my clan. Originally the Master had wanted the strongest girl of our clan, but it seems there was trouble so he settled for me and a few other members that remained." He threw me a look, which I could only decipher as smugness.

A clan with a bloodline? Impossible. He may as well be lying. If he had such abilities he would have displayed them in our last fight. I hissed lowly through me teeth.

"Tell me more."

"The master knows more about it than I. If you're interested he has all the information about the clans in his private library, as well as in his extended knowledge. You will have access to such information, I'm sure, if you go to see our master." He knew I was interested in the information, he was baiting me.

I growled lowly and warningly at him. He seemed to understand the message, because his attitude changed once again to respectful.

"I shall return in a week's time for your reply to the master's request. If you choose to deny it, then I have told you of the consequences if you do not respond favorably" He left quickly, scaling the side of the building and disappearing quietly.

When I returned to the house it was early morning, and a few early risers had started on their daily activities that would lead up to the crowded hustle of mid afternoon. I entered and welcomed the darkness of the house that had yet to have the shades drawn.

As I had assessed at the door, Gaara was sitting on the couch as if waiting for something. Once I had smelled him from outside my first thought was to find another way inside the house. But that would be cowardly to run from him, a human, so I opted to enter the preferred way.

He looked up as I stepped over the threshold. When he stood I assumed that he had been waiting for me. He wanted an explanation for the kiss, as was natural. I looked at him for a moment. I had no way to explain my actions besides to tell the truth. The truth was a very

difficult thing, most choose to lie instead of face it, and it was in that way that they were cowards.

Gritting my teeth I force myself to bow lowly, an action the clearly surprised him.

"I apologize for my actions on the mission. It was not my intent to cause you any discomfort." I made sure my voice and face were as neutral as possible.

He looked at me with an almost lost look in his eyes before he spoke. "Why did you kiss me?"

Was it wise to tell him? Did he really need to know the truth? I supposed not, but it wouldn't do me any good to hide it. It would just show that I was weak.

"I kissed you because it would seem that through unintentional circumstances I have acquired some…feeling towards you."

"Feelings?"

"Yes. Feelings are useless but it seemed that these compelled me to kiss you."

He looked at me for a moment longer before taking a couple of steps in my direction closing the gap between us to a few inches. I calmly kept my eyes on him. He was not posed to attack but I was to be prepared anyway.

When he slowly lifted his hand I almost flinched, but years of discipline kept my body in check. His soft pale hand touched my cheek briefly before he whispered, "I'm sorry."

When he had apologized it had surprised me, but what had surprised me more was when I wanted to lean into his touch. I wanted to have more contact with his hand, and feel his smooth skin brush mine once more.

When the shock had been overcome I managed to choke out, "why are you sorry? You have done nothing."

"I have made you hurt." he said simply.

Hurt? Not knowing what was happening or what to do only hurt my ego. I had lost nothing, yet seemed to lose everything when the kiss had occurred.

"Uzumaki Naruto. He showed me that bonds, feelings, weren't worthless. I want to create bond, I have told you. I want to become close, and have a precious person." He said it slowly as if thinking.

"A precious person?" I couldn't read him. He was closed to me.

He nodded. "Do you not want someone to protect, and who would protect you in turn?"

"No." I said, regaining control. "Other people are unnecessary. It is simpler to take care of yourself and let others worry over themselves, as they are going to do either way."

"You are wrong. I know it. If others are useless, why do you feel for me, why did you kiss me?" His words sounded more urgent now, more piercing.

I said nothing. I knew why I had kissed him. I did not understand the feelings; I was not familiar with them. I was not stupid – I could understand the logic, but my logic was also true. People couldn't be relied upon.

"Amai." I looked over so we were once more making eye contact. He moved slowly, and placed his hand on my cheek. He leaned forward slightly and our lips met.

Unlike the other kiss, this was soft and unsure, not full of the desperate need I had expressed before. His lips brushed mine lightly, leaving a sort of tingle. Before I had realized, he had moved away and left the room.

I stood there for a second longer. I could have avoided the kiss if I had wanted to, but I had not. My body had controlled me for the moment, sticking me in one place. I had allowed Gaara's display of affection.

Remembering the other vampire's words I almost hissed aloud. Not only had I allowed myself to be drawn in, I had also put Gaara in danger and that caused a strange unsettling in the pit of my stomach.

I left quickly to my room, where I observed Tora sitting. He looked up as I entered the room and quickly latched onto my waist with the affections of a child. I nodded once, accepting his greeting.

"How was your mission?" he asked. I had forgotten that the mission had occurred only a little while ago.

"It was fine."

He cocked his head curiously. "Why was Gaara home before you?"

"I had business to take care of," I answered distractedly as my mind was on other things.

"What sort of business?" he was persistent on his questioning so I finally turned and look him in the eye.

"The sort that is mine alone and not yours to know." I told him firmly.

"Fine," he huffed, "will you tell me about your mission, did anything exciting happen?"

I thought back to my rash actions that had resulted in the kiss with Gaara. Very exciting indeed.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, the enemy tried to kill me, I killed the enemy." He knew enough about the job of a shinobi to know that these were the usual occurrences.

"Really? Why was Gaara upset when he came home?" he asked.

"He was upset?"

"Well no, but I could tell." he was perceptive as usual.

"It is no business of mine how Gaara is feeling. I suggest you forget about it unless directly involved in the particular affair."

"Are you upset as well?" He asked, looking up at me.

"No, I am not."

For the next couple weeks, nothing occurred. The other vampire hadn't returned and there seemed to be no threat to Gaara's or Tora's lives yet. I declined a few missions, much to the council's displeasure, to ensure no attacks could occur without my notice. Tora, perceptive, as usual, noticed my lack of missions and asked about it. I gave him a believable excuse and he dropped the issue, but Gaara was another matter.

Gaara and I got along well in the past weeks. Not much was said on the subject of our feelings; instead we just stayed in each others company when other people became tedious. At night we sat sometimes on the roof, staring at the sky. It was rather disconcerting, the amount of time we spent together; even Temari and Kankuro noticed it, though they didn't say anything.

Gaara had taken to keeping me company while I scanned the city for any signs of vampire activity. Of course he didn't know what I was doing.

He approached me about the subject very forwardly. "Why are you not taking any missions?"

"Reasons."

He glared at me, obviously not accepting that as an answer.

I sighed. "I believe we have both reached an understanding about our relationship, correct? I will acknowledge that I have feelings for you, and believe your actions you have feelings for me as well. Mutual affections between two people usually lead to a relationship. But for reasons that I will not reveal I am unwilling to enter into such an engagement. It is for those

same reasons I am not taking missions." I spoke in a level tone and slower than usual to give him ample time to process what I was saying.

He was silent a moment before speaking. "If you are having a sort of problem, I believe it's best to tell people. People are supposed to help their precious people with their problems."

If I could I would have smirked. In a round about way he had called me his precious person. It felt kind of nice, I decided. Too bad I couldn't take him up on his subtle offer.

"No, this is a problem that I would like to keep to myself," I said softly.

We did not speak anymore for the rest of the night, satisfied that the village was clear we returned to our residences. As I stepped onto the roof I realized something odd. Temari and Kankuro were not home. They had no missions, so they should have been asleep in their beds, but I could not hear their breathing. Swiftly I expanded my senses to search for Tora, he was there but he was awake and moving our way, fast.


	15. Chapter 15

_Oh My golly gosh. Lokkie here. It is the new and imporved(not to mention, edited) chapter 15!!!!!_

_now anyone who read this won't have to put up with my bad spelling and grammer._

**Chapter 15**

_

* * *

__"You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment unless you trust enough."_

* * *

"He shouldn't be able to move this fast." I thought, "the only beings with this kind of speed is…"

"Vampires," I hissed lowly, as I become aware of other presences besides Tora's.

I sniffed the air delicately and determined that there were at least ten vampires; Tora was accompanying them, it seemed. Five of them were coming from the right and the other five from the left.

"Vampires? Vampires don't exist." Gaara said deftly.

"I'll explain later, but for now be ready. These opponents are stronger and faster than most that you have faced." Almost as soon as I had finished speaking we had been surrounded by the ten vampires.

All of them were dressed in odd looking clothing and either had a sneer or a blank face. My attention was drawn to one in particular when I heard a snarl. One of the vampires had its eyes locked on Gaara; it was struggling against the other vampire that was cursing and trying to keep the feral one restrained. The vampire who was apparently quite wild had black eyes and elongated nails; along with the matted hair, he did indeed look wild.

At a nod from the one in front of us, another vampire went to help restrain the struggling one that was quickly becoming too much to handle. Taking this as an indication that the thing in front of me was the leader I focused much of my attention there, but did not forget the others.

As he realized my eyes were focused on him, he kneeled.`

"Lady Amai," he said respectfully, although I could hear the edge in his tone. "I am a representative of the master Gaidoku. It is his express wish that you accompany us back, so that he may have a word with you."

"Where is the other man that was sent earlier?" I asked, ignoring his statement. I felt Gaara stiffen a bit next to me. I felt him send me a look that I could guess said I would need to explain later.

"His work was done, and the master wished for him to stay by his side for the moment." He responded truthfully.

"Where is Tora?" I asked. He had been with the group until a moment ago. I would like to know what had been done to him.

"He will be along shortly. Lady Amai, you were told we would be expecting an answer, so may I inquire as to what it is?"

"I must admit that the fact there are others like me is very intriguing. The fact remains, however, that I may be walking into a trap, as I have very little information about your master and what he wants." I said slowly while shifting my eyes around the group, looking for signs of Tora.

"He simply wishes to meet with you."

"Yes, but for what reason? As I do not know the reason, my answer will remain no, I will not see your master. Now get out of my sight." I hissed the last part.

"I am afraid, Lady Amai, that your refusal will not be an option." He nodded to something on his left and I felt a new presence.

Looking to my left I discovered Tora.

He was holding a Kunai to Gaara's throat. He had somehow managed to get him on his knees so they were almost equal in height.

"Tora. Release Gaara this instant." I said softly. I could see in Gaara's eyes that he would not fight the boy, out of fear of hurting him.

If I had been aware of such things as a heart beat I would have felt mine speed up at the sight. The one I loved and the boy I cared for holding a kunai to his neck.

"Now, Lady Amai, we are not unwilling to have the boy kill Gaara if you refuse to come with us."

"What have you done to him?" I asked, allowing my voice to raise almost unnoticeably in volume.

He looked amused at the question, "You haven't noticed? They boy you are looking at is not the same one that you picked up on the street. To put it this way, a child deceived you. Tora is a vampire." He paused to allow the words to sink in. "He was sent to ensure that we would have some leverage over you if such a situation as this should occur."

He carried on in a gloating manner after he had revealed the truth about Tora. He seemed pleased that I had been tricked. He was assuming that I would not kill Tora. He was assuming correct; I would not kill him, only hurt him a little. What he had said was true, and I could detect it easily now. Tora was a vampire -- it was the subtle shift in his scent that I had missed as I was preoccupied. But vampires were fast healers and hard to hurt. I could hit him just hard enough to stun him for a moment, then release Gaara where he would be free to fight as he chose.

Moving quickly I knocked aside Toras's kunai and kicked him in the head, stunning him for about a fraction of a second, which I used to lash out and deliver a palm to the chest, sending him a few feet away. Though he was a vampire, he still had the body of a small child and therefore had a shorter arm length and slower reflexes.

Gaara was quickly on his feet beside me. He sent me a look of simple thanks, which I acknowledged with a slight nod.

"Very good. I expected as much from you, Lady Amai." He bowed with mock respect. "But we still cannot let you simply decline in such a rude manner." He looked at the two others and snapped his fingers.

They let go of the vampire that had been restrained, with big grins on each of their faces. They liked to see people ripped to shreds, probably did it themselves a couple of times. The feral vampire that had been releases took a moment to zero in on me and Gaara then charged with a low growl.

We both anticipated the attack and jumped apart as its claws ripped into the roof. As if sensing that he was the easier prey, it swiftly pivoted towards Gaara and attacked again. It was only the speed of Gaara's sand that saved him. The vampire jumped back and Gaara's sand was sent after him. The sand was dodged, and it flew forward with its claws aimed towards his heart. I intercepted it with a swift kick, sending it flying to he other side of the roof.

"This is Raihab. He, as you can tell, he is very wild and ravenous. He is what we like to call a level x vampire." The leader explained calmly as if it had no importance. "Level x vampires are the ones that can't control themselves, usually made by accident, and usually of weak minded humans. "

Raihab sprung once again at Gaara, who fended him off while trying to capture his arm in sand.

"_Level x vampires, there is nothing more disgusting than these creatures. No self control, just hunger and anger. If you ever encounter one you must kill it at once, for it could attack and possibly turn more humans." The man said quietly as he and his 5 year old daughter looked down into the ring which showed a level x vampire straining against his chains to get to the human on the other side of the enclosure._

_The human was a prisoner, a thief that had been caught trying to sneak into the Soudai compound. The man was pressed as far against the wall as he could while he whimpered helplessly. He had been in there a few days and had soiled himself, leaving a horrible smell. _

_The man nodded somewhere to the right and the chains restraining the level x vampire were released. Instantly the vampire jumped onto the defenseless thief and began to devour him. The thief screamed as he was basically eaten alive, until the savage tearing of this throat silenced him. From the Soudai there was no mercy for thieves._

How did you kill a vampire? I had no clear idea in mind when I moved, but I moved all the same. I captured the vampire in a headlock and snapped its neck, and with a swift movement of my kunai I decapitated it. It twitched a moment, then lay still.

Gaara and the other vampires stared at me, and the leader just raised an eyebrow at the bloody mess. Gaara was staring with and odd expression, however. At that moment I was regretful I could not hear his thoughts. He had heard talk of vampires. None of it probably made any sense to him, but the fact that it was mentioned would not go unnoticed.

"Well, I suppose that was to be expected. He was not very strong in the first place. But seeing as we still have business to conclude, I will not let his death delay us. Tora!" He spoke Tora's name sharply.

Tora, who had been watching silently, appeared at the leader's side. I tried to comprehend how I had been able to read his thoughts before, if he had been a vampire not a human, because as he was now he was utterly blank to me. I could not read any of the other's thoughts, so I supposed it only worked on humans. Looking into his void eyes I tried to get into his mind, but yet again felt nothing, not even the tiniest spark of recognition.

"Tora," I spoke softly.

"Now Tora, since your _nee-san_ is being so uncooperative, I'd like your help this time." He smirked as he handed Tora a kunai. I understood he was going to have Tora kill himself if I didn't comply with his Master's wishes. What a filthy tactic.

The kunai that had been passed was now positioned under Tora's jugular. One little movement and his blood would be all over the roof. Beside me I heard Gaara's heartbeat become irregular for a moment.

"I will not let him be hurt." I stated, as if to the air. Gaara nodded from beside me.

"I will not let him be hurt either."

The leader of the group decided to at that moment speak. "I am afraid that is not an option. You are clearly outnumbered; I don't care how fast you are, you would still be outnumbered. It would be such a shame for Tora to cut his throat in those few seconds, would it not?"

I did not hiss, but I growled deep in my throat. This is what happened when you wished to protect others, when you had a heart; it made you weak, vulnerable to be corned.

"_Caring for someone, it is supposed to make you strong. Hn."_

_I looked at Gaara from across the training field. He had left his former team of his brothers and sisters to join a new one. From one perspective, it was probably best for him if he wanted from to improve his strength in battle. Though it had only been a little while since he had been a cold-blooded killer. I idly wondered if he could pull it off._

_Something may set him off again, if he was not careful. The hearts of humans were easily swayed to violence, as they had shown time and time again throughout history. But if Gaara was different, as I had first believed him to be, then he may succeed._

_So many possibilities with this human._

"_I believe..." he paused. "I believe that if you can have just one person to fight for, you can do almost anything. Naruto, he beat me to protect his precious person." _

"_Perhaps." I could have said what was on the tip of my tongue but he would not have heard anyway. Naruto, may have just been fighting for his own greed. He wanted to be recognized, and that was a form of greed. _

_But, who knew. He may have just cared too much and done something stupid, as most humans do._

I swallowed my growl and spoke in a level voice. "I do not believe I have heard your name."

"I suppose you may know my name. Gin."

"Gin, you will die here."

He laughed "Do not underestima-" he was cut off by the blood clogging his throat.

I twisted the knife, making him choke and try desperately to clear the blood out of his throat.

I glanced to the side to see that Gaara had sealed Tora in a Sand Coffin so he couldn't hurt himself.

I turned my attention to the man in front of me, "Now, I want you to leave. I want you to tell your master that I will come to see him, and when I do it will only be for his head. You will tell him, understand?"

He glared at me.

"You have until your wound heals. If you refuse, I will kill you." I enjoyed the fear that creeped into his eyes as I pulled the knife from his abdomen and waited.

He nodded after a moment.

"Good." I turned to the vampires that had been watching unemotionally. "Get out of my sight."

I nodded at Gaara to release Tora. "And take this with you." I took him and thrust him forward.

He joined their ranks without a sound.

"Why?" Gaara asked, glaring at me.

"He is not the same as before." I replied simply.

I watched the vampires turn for a moment. Then Gin spoke.

"I will not forget this until I die." He hissed.

"Oh, yeah that reminds me." Before anyone could blink I was behind him, a kunai at his neck. "Didn't I promise that you would die here?"

His eyes widened. "Plea-" he never finished his sentence as his head hit the roof, his mouth still frozen trying to form its last word.

"Now you may leave." And they disappeared, leaving the corpse of their leader on the ground.

How could I have forgotten? Temari and Kankuro were missing, I had not even questioned the leader before killing him. I entered Temari's room with Gaara following me. She was not there, and there were signs of another person having been there, their stench for one.

A piece of paper caught my eye. Gaara had seen it too because he went to pick it up from the foot of the bed. His eyes scanned it quickly, then he handed it to me, his face unemotional.

_Lady Amai,_

_We have taken the Container's siblings. You will meet our master Gaidoku in the Rock country. With this note I have provided a map with the exact coordinates. You may bring the Container, the master is anxious to meet him as well. _

_Gin_

_P.S. Fail to arrive before the next month and we will kill the boy and the girl._

That left us little choice in the matter. Being manipulated because of my carelessness. I turned to leave the room. I needed to pack and plan.

Gaara grabbed my arm. "What is this all about? Why have they taken Temari and Kankuro?"

I didn't have time for this. His grip tightened when I didn't answer, and his sand stirred in agitation.

"Tell me, Amai!"

"It's not your brother and sister they really want, it is me. Though I do not know why."

"What was all that about vampires, what was he talking about?" His voice was calm now.

"It would be better for you if you did not know such things."

"If I am to go with you to Rock country I need to know, Amai."

"You are not coming. This is not your fight. Humans should stay out of these matters." I tried to leave, but his sand wrapped around my legs. I had no time to play with him; if he insisted on coming it would waste time. He would also be in too much danger.

I growled and broke his sand easily, then trapped him against the wall with my shadows.

"Listen, to me. You are not coming!" I was inches away from his face. "If you come you will be torn to shreds by these people. I will not allow you to die that way."

"It is my choice to risk my life or not. They are my family and I have to save them." He spoke with equal resolve.

I hissed, showing him my fangs, but he didn't even blink "Fine." I jerked my shadows away. "Die how you wish. We leave in 10 minutes"

We slipped past the guards at the entrance to the village easily, and made our way across the sand in the direction the map had indicated. It would take us at least a week to get there. I could have made the trip in less time, but with Gaara, it was not possible.

We traveled in silence for awhile, moving as fast as possible. I wanted to enter the forest before the sun was too high. I could only handle the sun for a short period of time.

We reached the end of the desert before midday.

"We should rest here." I was tired after spending almost half the day in the sun; I needed to rest awhile. While we rested, Gaara checked the supplies for awhile, then sat down next to me. Our knees touched slightly.

I could feel the warmth of his body through the clothing. It encouraged me to lean against him and, sink my teeth into the source of that warmth. But I held myself off. Self-control was all I needed.

Gaara spoke. "You never answered my question about Vampires."

Of course he would not forget about something like that. I should only tell him what was necessary. The people that we were going to be fighting, they were vampires, monsters. I would tell him; all that was safe. But he did not need to know about me, it was not nessesary.

"Vampires. The people on the roof last night, they were vampires. Since you are going to be, no doubt, fight them, it is important that you know they are much stronger than you are. They have faster reflexes, they can move faster; they also have a much higher level of strength than humans do."

"So they do exist." He stated.

"Yes, they do."

"How do you know all of this?" He turned his head sideways to look at me.

I knew this because I was a vampire. "I cannot tell you that."

For a moment it was silent. Neither of us made a sound. I did not know what he was thinking, just that he looked contemplative.

Finally he spoke. "You could tell me, you know. I want you to trust me. It's okay to trust people sometimes."

There it was: the lie that humans believe in most. It was okay to trust others. But, was it really okay?

"Trust, I haven't trusted anyone in a long time."

"You can trust me, I'm sure you would be much happier than you are now."

"Some people, it seems, do not always get to have what makes them happy."

Then his lips were upon mine. And the heat from his body that I had been trying to ignore overflowed my mind. The kiss was hot and passionate; he was pouring his want to be trusted into that kiss. In the back of my mind I knew I had to stop this. I had to stop before it was too late. If I didn't, I would eat him alive.

I pushed him away gently. I didn't want to, but I also didn't want him to be hurt.

I looked at the ground as I spoke. "You shouldn't do that again. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Before he had a chance to speak, I picked up my pack and tossed his to him.

"We should leave."


End file.
